Midwest curler becomes oldest U.S. athlete to compete in Winter Olympics thanks to last-minute sub

Minnesota curler Rich Ruohonen has officially made U.S. Olympic history in a moment more than 30 years in the making.

The 54-year-old curler made his Olympic debut in Team USA’s match against Switzerland, becoming the oldest American to compete in a Winter Olympics.

With the match largely out of reach for the U.S. men’s team, the group decided to bring in Ruohonen, who made the Olympic team as an alternate.

“It’s kind of hard to go in in that situation, I would have rather had us up to 8-2 and I go in, but the moment was great,” he said after the match.

The crowd applauded the move, knowing what it would mean.

“I’ve worked so hard to get this to spot and I’ve been so close so many times over 25 years and not made it and to just come out and not embarras myself and make both, it was awesome,” he said. “I really appreciate these guys giving me that chance and I love them.”

Ruohonen, from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, had been emotional heading into the Games knowing his Olympic dreams were being realized — even if he didn’t compete.

“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.”

Ruohonen said he “thought it was over,” before his team’s shocking trials finish.

“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,” he said.

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.

He 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.

And he’s not the only one proving age is just a number at the Olympics.

Fellow Midwest athlete, 44-year-old Nick Baumgartner, competed in snowboard cross Thursday and nearly made the final event, but lost in a semifinals photo finish.

Baumgartner won his first gold medal four years ago at the age of 40. He is 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.”