Here’s how to keep the two sledding sports straight:
In luge, athletes speed down an icy track on a small sled.
In skeleton, they do it headfirst.
Luge is the more familiar of the two. It has a great name. Luge. It’s onomatopoetic, like a sled whooshing down an icy track. (It’s a Swiss term for a small sled.)
Luge is kind of like when you leapt onto your Flexible Flyer and steered down the hill with your feet, but these sleds weigh 50 pounds and can hit speeds of 90 miles per hour.