The 54-year-old is Team USA’s most seasoned competitor. Here’s how he ranks against the oldest Olympians of all time.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — Team USA may have failed to score highly in men’s curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but they still made history at the event.
The team’s score was too far behind its competitor, Switzerland, in the men’s curling tournament on Thursday to win the match. Instead, they decided to call in an alternate before the match ended.
The alternate was 54-year-old Rich Ruohonen, who became the oldest Team USA athlete to ever compete at the Winter Olympics.
Ruohonen has been curling for 45 years after starting the sport in the fifth grade. Since then, he has represented the U.S. at the 2008 and 2018 world championships, according to his Team USA bio. He has won back-to-back medals at the senior world championships in men’s curling, including a silver medal in 2024 and a bronze medal in 2025.
In all that time, he has only taken one curling season off from the sport, while recovering from a serious knee injury and studying law at Hamline Law School in Minnesota. While he’s not on the ice, Rouhonen is a personal injury attorney and enjoys fishing, water sports, and playing competitive softball.
Ruohonen is just a couple of years younger than the oldest athlete to ever compete at the Winter Olympics, according to Guinness World Records. That record goes to August Kronlund from Sweden, who was 58 years old when he also competed in curling at the 1924 Winter Olympics.
The oldest ever Olympian was also from Sweden, according to the Olympics website. Oscar Swahn competed at the 1920 Olympic Games as part of the 100m double shots shooting team when he was 72 years old. He won a silver medal in the event.