Age is just a number and several athletes on Team USA’s roster this year are proving that, but two Midwesterners are going for something bigger.
Rich Ruohonen, a 54-year-old curler from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, could break a record with his appearance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Ruohonen is currently the oldest member of Team USA, having been named an alternate for the U.S. men’s curling team.
“I figured I’d get [to the Olympics] someday as a coach, maybe,” Ruohonen told NBC Olympics. “But to get there, even if it is as an alternate, is just my dream.”
If he competes at the 2026 Games, he will become the oldest American to ever compete in the Winter Olympics.
“It was really emotional for me because I thought it was over,” Ruohonen said. “I thought I had retired, basically, and even though I’m not playing full-time or anything like that, I feel like I’m part of the team. Any way I can help, I’ve helped. Just to make it this time, I told my wife, it’s all worth it.”
Ruohonen currently works as a personal injury attorney and is a partner at law firm in Minnesota that specializes in representing victims of personal injury accidents.
Ruohonen started curling in 1981, in fifth grade, playing Saturday mornings at the St. Paul Curling Club.
He has been a part of two world championship curling teams and, serving as skip, led Team USA to the playoffs at the 2018 World Curling Championships in Las Vegas, where the team finished in sixth place.
According to his bio, Ruohonen “enjoys fishing, water sports, and playing competitive softball in the summer,” in addition to his love of curling.
He is one of at least five athletes over the age of 40 competing for Team USA, including fellow Midwesterner 44-year-old snowboarder Nick Baumgartner, of Michigan. Bobsledders Kaillie Armbruster Humphries and Elana Meyers-Taylor and 41-year-old skier Lindsey Vonn are also on that list.
If Ruohonen doesn’t compete in Italy, Baumgartner will be the oldest athlete to do so for Team USA.
At 44 years old, Baumgartner will be going for his second gold medal, having won his first four years ago at the age of 40. He is currently the oldest snowboarder on the team by 14 years.
“I’m in a sport against children,” Baumgartner told NBC News. “Snowboarding is dominated by youth, and to have a guy like me, the elder statesman, I love it, man. It makes me proud.”
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