Soldier Serves Up Silver

Whether she were to end up in Iraq or Italy, in a war or at peace, Shauna Rohbock decided she would do whatever it took to represent her country in a manner befitting a soldier.

Or a bobsled driver.

Rohbock, who holds the rank of specialist in the Utah National Guard, managed to do both at the Winter Olympics on a brisk and occasionally snowy Tuesday night, piloting her U.S. team to a silver-medal finish to finally fulfill her dream and help break what had been an 0-for-6 drought in the medals department for U.S. sliders.

“It’s amazing to be here as a soldier and a civilian as well,” said Rohbock, 28, who along with brakeman Valerie Fleming posted a two-day, four-run combined time of 3 minutes 50.69 seconds. “I just hope it lifts the spirits of other soldiers out there. It’s the greatest thing to win a medal for your country.”

The dominant and methodical German team of Sandra Kiriasis and Anja Schneiderheinze claimed the gold with a time of 3:49.98. Italians Gerda Weissensteiner and Jennifer Isacco earned the bronze.

The other U.S. team, driver Jean Prahm and 2002 Olympic gold medalist Vonetta Flowers, finished sixth, admirable only in that it had begun the second day of competition in ninth place and essentially out of medal contention.

“I’m so proud of them,” Flowers said of her teammates. “They worked hard and they deserved it and we can’t wait to celebrate with them -- and I’m going to tell them to enjoy every minute of it.”

For Rohbock, earning an Olympic medal represents the fulfillment of a dream that turned into a nightmare just before the Salt Lake City Olympics, when women’s bobsledding made its Olympic debut.

She was a brakeman and set to compete in a sled piloted by Jill Bakken. But Bakken replaced Rohbock with Flowers two months before those Games and that pair surprised the world -- and the always powerful Germans -- by winning the gold.

“There was no bitterness. Jill did what she had to do,” said Rohbock, of Orem, Utah. “After that, I became a driver immediately so that [animosity] was over very quickly.”

Her Olympic quest had begun anew, but only until the Army came calling. Rohbock received her deployment order in December 2003, as a member of the National Guard’s 115th Engineer Group.

Her athletic career was put on hold indefinitely and her future as an Olympian was put in doubt. She completed her training and prepared to ship out, but then her life took another unexpected turn. Army doctors found that she had a severely torn rotator cuff, apparently suffered earlier in 2003 while a soccer player for the San Diego Spirit.

That kept her from going abroad and, although she was disappointed in one regard, she was pleased to be able to resume her career as a bobsledder. She became a podium regular at World Cup events -- though she was never able to beat Kiriasis -- and was the bronze medalist at the 2005 world championships.

With Fleming, a former javelin thrower, as her brakeman, she is currently third on the World Cup circuit.

They entered Tuesday’s competition comfortably in third with runs of 57.37 and 57.65 seconds for a combined time of 1:55.02, trailing Kiriasis and Schneiderheinze by .09 of a second and Germany’s Susi Lisa Erdmann and Nicole Herschmann by only .01 of a second.

With Erdmann and Herschmann faltering, Rohbock and Fleming remained in striking distance for the gold with a first-run time of 57:78, moving into second, .53 behind Kiriasis and Schneiderheinze, with one run left.

They were the final teams on the start list and Rohbock and Fleming moved briefly into first with a time of 57.89. But Kiriasis and Schneiderheinze, unfazed, posted a 57.71, the fastest time of the final round, to hold on for the triumph.

“It’s like a dream,” said a gleeful Kiriasis, the reigning world champion who won the silver at Salt Lake City. “I think I have to sleep one more night to realize what happened.”

It was a sentiment that Rohbock, sitting next to Kiriasis in the interview tent, seemed to share with a nod.

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MEDAL WINNERS

BOBSLED, TWO-WOMEN

GOLD

* Germany 1 (Kiriasis, Schneiderheinze)

SILVER

* United States 1 (Rohbock, Fleming)

BRONZE

* Italy 1 (Weissensteiner, Isacco)