Singles, Women
| Date | 30 January – 4 February 1964 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Kunsteis-Bob- und Rodelbahn, Igls | |
| Participants | 17 from 7 countries | |
| Format | Four runs, total time determined placement. | |
| Details | Curves: 18 Length: 910 m Start Altitude: 1110 m Vertical Drop: 89 m | |
As the World Champion of 1962 and 1963, Ilse Geisler was considered the most likely winner of the first Olympic luge title for women. The 24-year-old teacher from Saxony expected challenges from the Austrian and Polish women, but was left with only one serious rival after the first run. That was 21-year-old Ortrun Enderlein, who was not only a fellow East German, but also competed for the same club, SC Traktor Obenwiesenthal. Enderlein extended her lead from the first run in the next two descents, leaving her with a 0.84 second lead after three runs. Geisler made one last “do or die” attempted in the final run, but made a major error, and lost nearly two seconds. Fortunately, her lead over Austria’s Leni Thurner (runner-up at the 1963 World Championships) was so large that her silver medal was not endangered.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | Run #1 | Run #2 | Run #3 | Run #4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ortrun Enderlein |  GER | 3:24.67 | 51.13 (1) | 51.12 (1) | 50.87 (1) | 51.55 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Ilse Geisler | GER | 3:27.42 | 51.28 (2) | 51.48 (2) | 51.20 (2) | 53.46 (7) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Leni Thurner |  AUT | 3:29.06 | 52.08 (4) | 52.08 (3) | 52.42 (5) | 52.48 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Irena Pawełczyk |  POL | 3:30.52 | 52.81 (5) | 52.42 (4) | 52.47 (7) | 52.82 (4) | |||
| 5 | Barbara Gorgoń-Flont | POL | 3:32.73 | 54.24 (9) | 53.01 (6) | 52.46 (6) | 53.02 (5) | |||
| 6 | Oldřiška Tylová |  TCH | 3:32.76 | 51.37 (3) | 57.94 (12) | 51.65 (3) | 51.80 (2) | |||
| 7 | Friederike Matejka | AUT | 3:34.68 | 53.61 (8) | 52.98 (5) | 53.94 (8) | 54.15 (9) | |||
| 8 | Helena Macher | POL | 3:35.87 | 53.15 (6) | 54.50 (9) | 54.55 (9) | 53.67 (8) | |||
| 9 | Hana Nesvadbová | TCH | 3:36.10 | 53.56 (7) | 53.45 (7) | 54.67 (10) | 54.42 (10) | |||
| 10 | Minna Blüml | GER | 3:36.32 | 56.87 (16) | 53.80 (8) | 52.33 (4) | 53.32 (6) | |||
| 11 | Ursula Amstein |  SUI | 3:42.81 | 54.25 (10) | 56.58 (11) | 55.90 (12) | 56.08 (13) | |||
| 12 | Elisabeth Nagele | SUI | 3:43.29 | 55.28 (13) | 55.10 (10) | 57.61 (13) | 55.30 (11) | |||
| 13 | Erica Prugger |  ITA | 4:13.19 | 55.24 (12) | 1:27.28 (13) | 54.98 (11) | 55.69 (12) | |||
| Monika Lücker | SUI | – | 55.35 (14) | – ( | – | – | ||||
| Antonia Lanthaler | AUT | – | 54.30 (11) | – ( | – | – | ||||
| Erika Außerdorfer | ITA | – | 56.03 (15) | – ( | – ( | – ( | ||||
| Dee Hirschland |  USA | – | 1:26.06 (17) | – ( | – | – | 1 |