Curler Rich Ruohonen became the United States’ oldest Winter Olympian ever when he took part in the Americans’ 8-3 loss to Switzerland on Thursday.
Ruohonen, 54, was brought on for one end with the U.S. down 8-2 and a win likely out of reach. Ruohonen helped the Americans score one point before they conceded the match.
“It’s awesome. It’s hard to do it in that situation when we’re getting beat,” Ruohonen told reporters. “I would have rather done it when we were up 8-2 instead of down 8-2. I really appreciate the guys giving me a chance.”
The previous oldest American to compete at a Winter Olympics was Joseph Savage, who was 52 when he took part in pairs skating at the 1932 Games. Archer Thomas Scott is the oldest American at any Olympics, competing in the 1904 St. Louis Games at age 71.
Ruohonen has served as the alternate for skip Danny Casper’s team, which defeated five-time Olympian John Shuster and his team in the U.S. trials then won a last-chance qualifier to reach the Milan Games.
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