Rich Ruohonen
Other namesRichard Ruohonen
Birth dateMarch 31, 1971 (age 55)[1]
Birth placeSaint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Curling clubSt. Paul CC,
St. Paul, MN
SkipDaniel Casper
ThirdLuc Violette
SecondBen Richardson
LeadAidan Oldenburg
AlternateRich Ruohonen
World championship appearances2 (, )
Pan continental championship appearances1 ()
Olympic appearances1 (2026)
Other appearancesWorld Senior Curling Championships: 3 (2024, 2025, 2026)

Richard Ruohonen (/ruːənɪn/ ROO-ə-nin;[2] born March 31, 1971) is an American curler[3] from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. He is a two-time national champion and as such represented the United States at the 2008 and 2018 World Men's Curling Championships.

Career

Ruohonen made his first appearance at the United States Men's Championship in 1998.[3] He won his first national championship in 2008, playing third for skip Craig Brown. As Team United States at the 2008 World Men's Championship, they finished the round-robin with 5–6 record, missing the playoffs and ending the tournament in seventh place.

Ruohonen would lose the US Nationals final three times, in 2011, 2013, and 2017, before again earning the gold medal in 2018. His 2018 gold medal team included Greg Persinger, Colin Hufman, and Philip Tilker. At the World Championship they finished in sixth place when they lost their first playoff game to Brad Gushue's Team Canada.

In 2019 when Ruohonen returned to the national championship to attempt to defend his title, he brought along Jared Allen, retired NFL player, as an alternate.[4] Ruohonen's team lost to John Shuster in the final, with a score of 8–4.[5]

At the 2020 United States Men's Championship Ruohonen made it to the finals for the fourth year in a row, facing John Shuster for the third time out of those four years and, as happened in 2017 and 2019, Shuster prevailed to win the championship.[6]

Ruohonen would later notably join the Daniel Casper rink as an alternate for the 2025–26 curling season, where they would qualify for the 2025 United States Olympic Curling Trials. At the Trials, Team Casper would go 4–2 in the round robin and beat the rink led by 2018 Olympic Champion and 5-time Olympian John Shuster in the best-of-three final series, winning the deciding Game 3 by a score of 7–5 after the two sides split the first two games.[7] This win qualified the Casper rink to represent the United States at the 2025 Olympic Qualification Event. The team would go on to win the Qualification Event, finishing 6–1 after round robin play and beating China's Xu Xiaoming 9–4, qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Ruohonen made his Olympic debut on February 12, 2026, substituting in for the eighth end of the United States's 8–3 loss to Switzerland in Round Robin play.[8] He is the oldest person to play for the United States in the Winter Olympics.[9]

Personal life

Ruohonen is an American personal injury lawyer and a partner at the TSR Injury Law firm.[10] He attended the Hamline University School of Law.[11] In 2001 he was fellow curler Jason Larway's attorney when they filed a grievance with the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Curling Association over Larway's eligibility to compete at the 2001 United States Olympic Curling Trials.[12]

He is married to Sherry, with two children. He started curling in 1981.[3]

Teams

SeasonSkipThirdSecondLeadAlternateCoachEvents
2003–04Rich RuohonenJeff LaunderganJohn BentonPete Annis2004 USMCC (9th)
2004–05Rich RuohonenNick MyersJohn BentonPete AnnisJim Dexter2005 USMCC/USOCT (5th)
2005–06Rich RuohonenNick MyersJohn BentonPete Annis2006 US World Trials (5th)
2006–07Rich RuohonenTroy SchroederJohn BentonPete Annis2007 USMCC (8th)
2007–08Craig BrownRich RuohonenJohn DunlopPete AnnisKevin Kakela (WMCC)Steve Brown
(7th)
2008–09Craig BrownRich RuohonenJohn DunlopPete Annis(4th)
2009–10Craig BrownRich RuohonenZach JacobsonPete Annis(5th)
2010–11Tyler GeorgeChris PlysRich RuohonenPhill Drobnick
2011–12Tyler GeorgeChris PlysRich RuohonenColin Hufman(8th)
2012–13Chris Plys (fourth)Tyler George (skip)Rich RuohonenColin Hufman
2013–14Chris Plys (fourth)Tyler George (skip)Rich RuohonenColin HufmanCraig Brown2013 USOCT (4th)
Heath McCormickChris PlysRich RuohonenColin Hufman
2014–15[13]Mike FarbelowRich RuohonenKevin JohnsonDan Ruehl
2015–16[14]Mike FarbelowRich RuohonenChris BondDan Ruehl
2016–17Todd BirrRich RuohonenJohn BentonTom O'Connor
2017–18Heath McCormickChris PlysKorey DropkinTom HowellRich Ruohonen2017 USOCT (2nd)
Greg Persinger (fourth)Rich Ruohonen (skip)Colin HufmanPhilip TilkerChris Plys
(WMCC)		Phill Drobnick
(6th)
2018–19Greg Persinger (fourth)Rich Ruohonen (skip)Colin HufmanPhilip TilkerJared Allen
Greg Persinger (fourth)Rich Ruohonen (skip)Sean BeightonKroy NernbergerPhill DrobnickCWC/1 (6th)
2019–20Rich RuohonenGreg PersingerColin HufmanPhilip TilkerKroy Nernberger
2020–21Rich RuohonenAndrew StoperaColin HufmanPhilip TilkerKroy Nernberger(7th)
2021–22Rich RuohonenAndrew StoperaColin HufmanKroy NernbergerPhilip Tilker
Korey DropkinAndrea StoperaMark FennerTom HowellRich RuohonenMark Lazar
2023–24Rich RuohenenJason SmithSamuel StrouseJared AllenAidan Oldenburg(8th)
2024–25Daniel CasperLuc VioletteBen RichardsonAidan OldenburgRich Ruohonen
2025–26Daniel CasperLuc VioletteBen RichardsonAidan OldenburgRich Ruohonen

Grand Slam record

Event2008–092009–102010–112011–122012–132013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–202020–212021–222022–232023–242024–25
Tour ChallengeN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/ADNPDNPDNPQFT2N/AN/ADNPDNPT2[a]
MastersQDNPDNPDNPDNPQDNPDNPDNPDNPDNPDNPN/AQDNPDNPDNP
Champions CupN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/ADNPDNPQFDNPN/ADNPDNPDNPN/AN/A

Notes

  1. ^ Ruohonen spared for Daniel Casper.

References

  1. ^ "Rich Ruohonen". Curlingzone.com
  2. ^ "Rich RUOHONEN". Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  3. ^ "Rich Ruohonen". United States Curling Association. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  4. ^ "Bemidji trio set for USA Curling National Championships". The Bemidji Pioneer. February 7, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  5. ^ "Olympic champ John Shuster wins 7th national curling title". The Associated Press. February 16, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  6. ^ Schneider, Angela (February 15, 2020). "John Shuster caps unbeaten run through USA Curling Nationals with win over Rich Ruohonen in final". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Casper ends Shuster’s memorable run by defeating 2018 Olympic gold medalist in USA Curling Trials final". TSN. November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  8. ^ Pierce, Zack (February 12, 2026). "Curler Rich Ruohonen, 54, becomes oldest American to compete at Winter Olympics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  9. ^ https://apnews.com/article/curling-milan-cortina-olympics-85df6ea64f2abb7a89ed9732e5c69a73
  10. ^ Staff, KARE 11 (February 11, 2022). "TSR Injury Law partner is also an Olympic curler". KARE 11. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
  11. ^ "ATTORNEY PROFILE Top Rated Personal Injury - Plaintiff Attorney in Bloomington, MN". superlawyers.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  12. ^ "Grievance filed by champion curlers". Daily Herald. June 23, 2001. Archived from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  13. ^ "Farbelow 2–3 at 2015 U.S. Open of Curling". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  14. ^ "Farbelow 4–3 at US Men's Challenge Round". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 21, 2020.