Luge at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Luge and bobsleigh had been practically unknown in Japan prior to the 1972 Winter Olympics, and the track built for the Games was the first in the country. Located at Mount Teine, the track was built in December 1971, and opened at Christmas Day for the Japanese sleighers to train. While luge and bobsleigh were both held there, there was a separate training track built at Fujino, which was used by lugers in the weeks before the Olympics.

In competition, the lugers from East Germany dominated. They won 8 out of 9 available medals, sweeping both singles competitions.