I am curious to know which country brought the luge to the Winter Olympics.

The need for speed in a bobsled & luge dates back to at least 800 AD. Dangerously fast, bobsleds -- with two- or four-person teams -- were born from the toboggan as well as other early sleds used for transportation in snowy climates. The word ''bobsled'' comes from the fact that early sleds bounced, or ''bobbed,'' while speeding downhill.

Individual racers plunged headfirst down the bobsled course on the ominously named ''skeleton'' sleds, steering with their head & shoulders. This is different from the luge (French for ''sleigh''), on which one or two riders race lying down, feet first. Evidence of the luge dates back 1,200 years to Norway, where small sleds were first used as both vehicles & toys.