A 54-year-old personal injury
lawyer from Minnesota just became the oldest US Winter Olympian
[February 13, 2026]
By JULIA FRANKEL
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The stakes were low — and the time
ripe — for a 54-year old personal injury lawyer and six-time winner
of “Minnesota Attorney of the Year” to make Olympic history.
It was the end of the U.S. men’s curling match against Switzerland
on Thursday and they were down 8-2.
The team called a substitution. Rich Ruohonen, from Brooklyn Park,
Minnesota, stepped onto the ice. He hurled the corner guard and
watched his stone, biting his lip until it arrived safely at the
left flank of the house.
“Yeah, baby! Good shot, Rich!" skip Danny Casper — who was born in
2001, making him 30 years younger than Ruohonen — shouted across the
ice.
U.S. fans gave a standing ovation. The lawyer looked wistful. He'd
had just become the oldest person to compete for the U.S. at the
Winter Olympics.
“I would have rather done it when we were up 8-2 instead of down
8-2," he said, “but I really appreciate the guys giving me a
chance.”
Since inviting Ruohonen onto their Gen-Z team as an alternate for
Casper, who has Guillain-Barre syndrome, he has become something of
an honorary uncle: driving them around, waking them up for morning
trainings and buying them snacks.
All while holding that much-discussed full-time job.
“We got Rich. Uh, he’s a lawyer. I don’t know if you guys knew
that,” said Casper at a recent press conference, after that fact had
already been mentioned four times. Curlers from the US women’s and
men’s teams cracked up.
“If you need a lawyer, I think you can call Rich,” Casper said a few
minutes later, again to uproarious laughter.
All jokes aside, it's a serious commitment.
“I get up three days a week at 5 in the morning, leave my house by
5:15 in the morning, go drive 30 miles to work out and train,"
Ruohonen told the AP.
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US supporters watch during the gold medal mixed doubles curling
match between USA and Sweden, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in
Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima
Shbair)
He then heads to his law practice and works all day
before returning at 6 p.m. before heading to practice again. He
spends Thursday through Sunday away at curling tournaments, toting
around a collared shirt and a tie so he can handle hearings on Zoom
from the road. He has two kids with his wife Sherri: Nicholas, 21,
and Hannah, 24. He has taught them to curl — as his father taught
him —- but says Nick prefers hockey.
Though his teammates poke fun and make him the butt of the
occasional TikTok video, there's clearly a lot of love on both
sides.
It's because of the younger teammates that Ruohonen has finally
gotten his Olympic moment after falling just short on several
occasions. And it's because of Ruohonen that the team has a mentor
and a connection to the older generation of the sport, some of whom
they defeated to clinch their Olympic qualification.
“I came from the days when guys were smoking cigarettes out on the
ice and all we did was throw rocks and think that we could be
better,” Ruohonen said while praising his teammates' work ethic.
“Look at these guys,” he added. “Every one of them’s ripped. And
every one of them sweeps their butt off."
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