In luge, six tenths of a second can be the difference between first and thirteenth place.
So, most of the time casual spectators can't determine a run's quality outside of the final running time.
However, when a run goes poorly, it makes for some exciting television.
Andriy Mandziy of #UKR fell off his sled during his first luge run, but hopped back on in the middle of the course to finish. pic.twitter.com/o0so5QA9Yi
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2018
Ukraine's Andiry Mandizy finished 40th out of 40 sliders, but he can go home with his head held high because at least he didn't get disqualified.
- SPECIAL SECTION: Winter Olympics 2018
- PHOTOS: Wisconsin Winter Olympic Athletes
Luge competitors are automatically disqualified if they don't cross the finish aboard their sled. Mandziy had the wherewithal to somehow get back on after he'd fallen off, even though he recorded a time 15 seconds later than the leader David Gleirscher of Austria.
This is just another example of how impressive Olympic athletes are, especially compared to us normal people sitting on the couch.
Mandizy was able to climb back on a sled that can reach 90 miles-per-hour, and most of us have to give up when we fall off our floating raft in the pool
