Olympic luger Jonathan Gustafson explains the unique skills required to compete in the fastest sport on ice

Blink and you might miss it. Luge is the fastest sport on ice, where milliseconds matter. So every push, every paddle and every turn is critical. 

Athletes like Team USA’s Jonathan Gustafson race down an ice-covered track at speeds that can top 90 miles an hour — no seat belts or brakes. The fastest time wins. 

“I would describe luge as really just extreme sledding. Like anything any kid does when they’re younger, get that plastic tube and down a hill. We’re pretty similar to that, just a lot more advanced,” Gustafson told “CBS Mornings.” 

Gustafson will compete in the men’s single luge at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, his second time competing in the winter games. He last competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“I think most people see luge and they’re like, ‘Oh, they just kinda lie there,'” the 28-year-old athlete said. “There’s a lot of training that goes into it, and a lot you’re doing.”

Gustafson said small movements, such as pushing your shoulder into the sled and lifting slightly, could make a difference. 

“All the micro movements that you do will turn the sled and make it just ever so slightly, either a little better, a little worse, a little earlier, later into curves or in straightaways,” he said.

Discovering his love for luge 

Gustafson said he discovered the sport through USA Luge’s slider search, a national recruitment program, and fell in love with it at 11 years old. 

“One of my friends was doing it and he told me about it and I asked my parents if we could go,” Gustafson recalled. “And they said, sure, why not, not thinking anything of it. And here we are, 16 years later.”

Gustafson said he’s drawn to the sport because of its intensity. 

“Each run is only 40 to 60 seconds where you really hit those top speeds and you’re experiencing those high g-forces,” he said. “It’s such a ride. I’ve been doing this sport for 16 years now and I still love going down the track just about every time.”

USA Luge works to promote and grow the sport. The team of 11 athletes is looking to win its first gold medal ever at the Olympic Games in Italy. At its facility in Lake Placid, New York, visitors are allowed to slide and experience the sport on the indoor track.