CESANA, Italy (AP) By any measure, this was not what the U.S. sliding contingent wanted entering these Olympics. There was only one medal. One star retired. Two athletes were seriously injured. Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming will head home happy; they won a silver medal in women’s bobsled, capping a breakout year for a duo almost forgotten while pre-games hoopla centered on the team of Jean Prahm and 2002 gold medalist Vonetta Flowers. “Every athlete and Olympian wants to win a medal for their country,” said Rohbock, a National Guard member. “Being a soldier makes it mean that much more for me.” But other than Rohbock and Fleming, every American luger, bobsledder and skeleton racer left wondering what might have been.
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'Abenomics' spiel guardedly praised
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, resolved to end nearly two decades of deflation and revive the economy, explains his economic and fiscal policies to his fellow G-8 chiefs, turning "Abenomics" into an international commitment in the process.