The result had pretty much been decided a few months ago as Danny Casper prepared to take his shot at the Olympic Trials in Sioux Falls, S.D. There was going to be a changing of the guard in U.S. men’s curling.
As the rock glided down the ice sheet, Casper and his teammates slowly started to come to grips with the reality of the situation. All the hard work they had put it together was about to pay off.
It became official a few seconds later. Team Casper had upset Team Shuster. The cameras caught Casper hugging John Shuster in the immediate aftermath in what felt like a passing of the torch between the faces of the sport.
Meanwhile, Rich Ruohonen hugged Colin Hufman on the other end of the ice, navigating the joy of victory he was feeling with the agony of defeat his friend was feeling. Never mind that they were opponents at the Olympic Trials. They have built a brotherly bond over the past 25 years with curling at the forefront.
“He’s like a little brother to me,” Ruohonen said. “He told me that the only part that was going to make this OK for him was that I get to go.”
It was strange for Hufman as he reflected on the exchange. He didn’t know he could feel so much happiness for somebody he really cared about while also feeling so much sadness for himself.
“It was a surreal moment,” Hufman said. “I’ll never forget that.”
The solace exists in knowing Ruohonen, 54, was finally on the precipice of getting to represent his country on the highest stage. After prevailing at the trials in dramatic fashion, Team Casper dominated at the Olympic Qualifying Event to secure its spot.
“That was the most stressful time for me,” Ruohonen said. “The only thing that would’ve been worse than losing the Olympic Trials would be winning the Olympic Trials and still not being able to go.”
There’s a chance that Ruohonen doesn’t throw a single rock over the next week and a half at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Technically, he’s the alternate on Team Casper, so he might not participate in competition.
That won’t take away from the lifetime achievement. After coming up short in the trials a half dozen times, Ruohonen, who graduated from Spring Lake Park and lives in Brooklyn Park, has finally broken through. His perseverance has made him the oldest U.S. Winter Olympian. Ever.
“Just talking about it is giving me goosebumps,” Ruohonen said. “It’s been such a long road for me to get here. There’s been a lot of heartbreak for the past 25 years. This makes it all worth it.”
This is the culmination of a journey for Ruohonen that can be traced back to the St. Paul Curling Club. His introduction into the sport as a little kid came before anybody on Team Casper was born.
“When did I get my start?” Ruohonen said. “Alright, so back in the eighteen hundreds …”
He let out a boisterous laugh as he landed the punchline on the Dad Joke, and it provided some insight into his personality. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, which, in turn, has allowed him to keep going amid so much disappointment.
Maybe the most impressive part about Ruohonen’s continued commitment to curling is how successful he is outside of it; he has established himself as a very successful lawyer in the Twin Cities. You know those TSR Injury Law billboards that can been seen pretty much everywhere? He’s literally the R.
“It would’ve been really easy for him at some point to go, ‘I don’t need something that takes up so much of my time,’ ” Hufman said. “He’s truly somebody who does it for the love of the game.”
That said, Ruohonen has flirted with the idea of retirement a couple of times, most recently after he narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Though he still played competitively from time to time, he didn’t set his sights on the 2026 Games.
Not until Team Casper reached out to him roughly 18 months ago.
After learning that Casper had been diagnosed with Guillain Barré Syndrome, a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, Aidan Oldenburg, Ben Richardson and Luc Violette needed somebody with experience that could help them in the interim. It’s exactly what Ruohonen could bring to the table.
He had so much success as a substitute that Team Casper asked him to stick around. They have continued on an upward trajectory ever since.
“I will go to the mat saying that they wouldn’t have been able to beat us if they hadn’t picked him up when they did,” Hufman said. “I think his experience kind of allowed them to move through some steps faster than they would have without him.”
Now that Casper is feeling healthier, Ruohonen has taken on more of supporting role, doing whatever he can possibly do to make life easier for his teammates.
“I’ve heard a lot of jokes like, ‘It looks like some dad is taking his kids to the Olympics,’ ” Ruohonen said. “I own it because I am old. I don’t mind being the dad of the group. I’d like to think of myself more like the crazy older brother.”
He paused.
“I guess I am twice their age,” Ruohonen said. “We can call it what it is.”
Not that affected his ability to fit in.
“His maturity level is probably on par with us,” Oldenburg said. “Maybe even lower.”
The friendly ribbing is rooted in respect.
“He deserves it because he has put in so much hard work to get here,” Oldenburg said. “It would’ve been very easy for him to give up or stop trying as hard as he does. Nope. He puts in the same amount of work as we do.”
As he tried to think about what it would be like at the 2026 Winter Games, Ruohonen made sure to highlight his wife and his kids and how much their support has meant to him. It’s not lost on him how big of a sacrifice the sport has been for them. He couldn’t be more thrilled to share the experience with them along for the ride.
“I can’t believe it,” Ruohonen said. “I retired twice. I thought it was over, and I was OK with that. To have it come full circle where now I’m going to the Olympics is insane.”
Meanwhile, Hufman, who was an alternate at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, will watch with pride from afar, still feeling the full palette of emotions he felt a few months ago when he hugged Ruohonen on the ice.
“I want people to understand the nuance of it, because I think it matters,” Hufman said. “I’m still not over it, and I don’t know when I will be. I’m also so happy that my friend finally gets to experience that. I think I’ll look back on it and be happier knowing we both got that opportunity in our lives.”
U.S. Olympians Luc Violette, Benjamin Richardson, Rich Ruohonen, Daniel Casper and Aidan Oldenburg attend the Team USA Welcome Experience at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics on February 04, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)
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