Curler Rich Ruohonen made history on Thursday, becoming the oldest American ever to compete in the Winter Olympics.
The 54-year-old personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, reached the milestone when he threw his first stone for Team USA during the men's curling round-robin match against Switzerland. The United States went on to lose 8-3, conceding after eight ends.
"It's awesome. It's hard to do it in that situation when we're getting beat," Ruohonen told reporters, according to ESPN. "I would have rather done it when we were up 8-2 instead of down 8-2. I really appreciate the guys giving me a chance."
Ruohonen was the alternate on the U.S. men's curling team alongside skip Daniel Casper, Luc Violette, Ben Richardson and Aidan Oldenburg. He sat out the Americans' opening round-robin match against Czechia on Wednesday before entering late in their second game against Switzerland.
The previous record for oldest American Winter Olympian belonged to Joseph Savage, who was 52 when he competed in pairs skating at the 1932 Winter Games.
The oldest American athlete to compete at any Olympics remains archer Thomas Scott, who took part in the 1904 St. Louis Games at age 71.
Ruohonen started curling in the fifth grade, according to his official Team USA bio. He later took up competitive curling in his late teens and spent decades chasing an Olympic spot, according to NBC.
Ruohonen has made appearances in five consecutive U.S. Olympic trials, starting in 2006 through 2022, with his best finish coming in 2018, when he placed second, per NBC.
He represented the U.S. in men's curling at the 2008 and 2018 world championships, according to his Team USA bio, and medaled at both the 2024 and 2025 senior world championships.
