ARLINGTON, Va., - Sgt. Shauna Rohbock is not ready for what she is
about to experience in the women's bobsledding event tonight and tomorrow at
the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
"This track is so fast," said Rohbock, who is a member of the Utah Army
National Guard. "You can't prepare for this kind of speed, because there's
nowhere else in the world like this."
Rohbock, who is ranked as one of the top female bobsledders in the world, has
been training on the track since Saturday in preparation for her Olympic
runs.
She has also expressed some concern over the layout of the track.
The intense speeds of the track have already broken a few records, "so I
can't imagine what we're going to do on race day," Rohbock said.
This is the same track that led to the death of Georgian luger Nodar
Kumaritashvili during a training run at the games.
Rohbock, who took the silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin,
Italy, expressed concern over the track two years ago, when she first tested
it out saying that she felt the course was too fast, especially with the
tight turns toward the end.
"I think the problem here is the curves are back-to-back in the bottom," she
said. "They are really close and with the speed, and having them
back-to-back, as soon as you get in trouble it just multiplies, and then it's
trouble."
Rohbock and her team have taken precautions during their training runs, such
as pushing the sled off the start at a slower pace and using a heavier grit
to sand the runners on the sled, to try to mitigate some of the high speeds
at the tail end of the course.
Bobsledders have also been given extra training time to familiarize
themselves with the track.
"I run this track through my mind constantly wondering how I can do this
better, how can I get this right," she said. "Corner 4-5 is going to haunt me
before I get back on the track."
But despite the pressures of a fast, challenging course, Rohbock said she
doesn't feel the added pressure of winning a medal during this year's games.
"Actually, I feel like I got that monkey off my back in 2006," she said.
"I've already won my medal. I just want to go and have four great runs and be
happy with my performance in the end."
This also may be the last Olympics for Rohbock, who said she may continue to
compete in the sport for the next few years, and then move on to other
endeavors.
But for now, her main concern is her four runs down the mountain tonight and
tomorrow.
"If it comes out that it's a medal, that's great, but I don't want to have
the coulda, shoulda, wouldas in the end and been like, 'I could have done
that a little bit better,'" she said.