Bob sledder Shauna Rohbock
A dangerous mountain and a high speed sport meet at the Winter Olympics.
With speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, bobsled is one of the fastest sports in the world.
“Every run could maybe be your last,” said Shauna Rohbock, a U.S. bobsled athlete.
Rohbock will be competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, over the next two weeks, competing on one of the most dangerous mountains in the world.
“Whistler is a fairly dangerous track,” she said. Crashing at one hundred miles per hour is a regular event for her. “I don’t know how many crashes I’ve been in, I lost track a long time ago.” She raced Whistler last year, winning a gold.
Rohbock began her athletic career in soccer. She was introduced to bobsledding while attending Brigham Young University in Utah. After that, she competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, where she won the only U.S. medal in the sport.
“Standing up there with one more run to go, I was like, “Alright, I just need to get this done,’” she said. When she finished the race, she was not sure what place she was in, but she soon found out. “It was the most amazing feeling!”
In 2009, she competed in the World Championships for bobsledding. She won a silver with her best finishing time. Rohbock also raced in Europe last January where she won two out of six races.
Her work out includes heavy lifting twice a week, combined with various sprints throughout each day.
“It’s pretty much just eating, working out, sliding, eating, and thinking about bobsledding,” she said with a laugh. “That’s pretty much all we do in season.”
Rohback has set some specific goals for herself at this year’s games.
“I want four runs that I’m happy about,” she said. She said she does not care what the media and other people think, she just wants to be happy with what she does and not feel pressured.
So what drives Rohbock to continue risking her life? She attributes it to her previous trip in the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy.
“Just knowing that feeling and wanting to be there again, is enough to drive you to get up and workout everyday and to put 100 percent into it,” she said.
She has some advice for kids who aspire to compete in the Olympics someday.
“Continue to work on the skill of the sport, and try to be the best at it,” she said.
Rohbock summed up the key to living out your Olympic dream: “There’s no substitution for hard work,” she said. “That’s for sure.”
PHOTO: Shauna Rohbock, front, and Michelle Rzepka cross the finish line in third place at the FIBT Women Bobsleigh World Cup competition in Altenberg, Germany, on December 19, 2009. (Photo Credit: Matthias Rietschel/AP Images)
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