Peter Fenson (born February 29, 1968, in

Bemidji, Minnesota Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, Minnesota, Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the ci ...

) is an American curler. He was the

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...

of the men's rink that represented the United States at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

, where they won the bronze medal, the first Olympic medal for the United States in curling. He has won eight national championships, the most recent in Philadelphia in March 2014, and six as skip.

Career

Fenson took up curling at age 13; his father, Bob Fenson, won the 1979 national championships and is now the coach of Pete's rink. Pete Fenson was a third on the national champion rinks in 1993 and 1994, and his rink, skipped by Scott Baird, made it to the semifinals of the 1993

World Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's an ...

and placed fifth in 1994. Fenson was the skip of the rink which won the 2003 U.S. national championship, and went on to take eighth place at the 2003 Ford World Curling Championship. He also participated in the 2003 Continental Cup of Curling. After finishing as runner-up in the 2004 U.S. championships, Fenson's rink won the 2005 national championship. At the 2005

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, Fenson's rink finished the preliminary round in a six-way tie for first place, but was eliminated from competition in a tie-breaker against defending

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

champion

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Still, Fenson's sixth-place finish earned his rink the right to represent the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympics in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. At the Olympics, Fenson's rink had a 6–3 record in the round robin portion of the tournament, losing only to

and eventual finalists

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. This put the rink in a three-way tie for second place with Canada and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

; Fenson's rink faced

Brad Gushue Bradley Raymond Gushue, ONL ( ; born June 16, 1980) is a Canadian curler from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Gushue, along with teammates Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Jamie Korab and Mike Adam, represented Canada in curling at the 2006 ...

's Canadian rink in the semifinal, losing 11–5 in nine ends. Two days later, however, the rink rebounded to defeat

David Murdoch David Matthew Murdoch (born 17 April 1978) is a retired Scottish curler from Stirling. As the Scotland skip, he and his former team of Ewan MacDonald, Warwick Smith, Euan Byers and Peter Smith are the 2006 and 2009 World Curling Champions ...

's Great Britain rink in the bronze medal game 8–6, securing the first-ever American Olympic medal in curling. On January 16, 2007, the team was named the 2006

USOC Team of the Year The USOPC Athlete of the Year (historically USOC Athlete of the Year) awards are part of a series of awards presented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee to athletes who have distinguished themselves in one of the Olympic Games, Ol ...

. Fenson's teammates in the 2009-10 curling season were

Shawn Rojeski Shawn Rojeski (born January 21, 1972) is an American curler from Chisholm, Minnesota and Olympic medalist. He was born and raised in Biwabik, Minnesota and attended Mesabi East High School. Under skip Pete Fenson, he received a bronze medal ...

(third), Joe Polo (second), and

Tyler George Tyler George (born October 6, 1982) is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. He is a three-time U.S. Champion, 2016 World bronze medalist, and 2018 Olympic gold medalist. Since the 2018 Olympics, he has taken a break from playing competitiv ...

(lead). The team's lead for the past four years (including the 2006 Olympics),

John Shuster John “Shoostie” Shuster ( ; born November 3, 1982) is an American curler who lives in Superior, Wisconsin. He led Team USA to gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, the first American team to ever win gold in curling. He also won a bronze medal a ...

, had decided in 2006 to depart from the team to form his own team. Fenson won the 2010 USA National Championships, which took place in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

. His victory earned him the right to play for the US at the 2010 World Championship in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, where he and his rink finished 4th after two disappointing losses in the playoffs to David Smith's rink from Scotland.

soon left to form his own team. With Ryan Brunt playing at the lead position, Fenson and his rink participated at the 2011 Continental Cup of Curling, where Team North America defeated Team World in a record-breaking performance. His team then went to the 2011 US Nationals and, after winning some tight matches, finished the round robin with an undefeated 9-0 win–loss record. He then edged

out in the playoffs and in the finals to become the repeat US champion, winning his seventh US national championship. He and his team represented the United States at the

2011 Ford World Men's Curling Championship The 2011 World Men's Curling Championship (branded as Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2011 presented by Richardson for sponsorship reasons) was held at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada from April 2–10, 2011. In the ...

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, in April. The team opened with a win against Denmark, but suffered a series of close losses and finished in 10th place with a 3–8 win–loss record, their worst at a world championship. Fenson and his team missed the playoffs at the first three events for their 2011–12 World Curling Tour season. However, they had better fortune at the Laphroaig Scotch Open, where they flew through the knockout round and defeated David Brown in the final to win the event. Fenson and his rink were selected to represent the United States at the 2012 USA-Brazil Challenge to play against Brazil for a spot in the World Championships in Basel, but Brazil withdrew from the challenge. Fenson then participated in the 2012 Continental Cup of Curling, where Team World won a close tournament over Team North America. Fenson participated in the 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship, and went through the round robin with a 9–1 win–loss record. In the playoffs, he was defeated by

Heath McCormick Heath McCormick (born August 7, 1976) is a Canadian- American curler from Sarnia, Ontario. Career McCormick began curling in 1992 as a junior in Ontario. He competed in the Ontario Junior Curling Championships five times, and won in 1996 playi ...

, who had previously beaten him in the round robin, but rebounded with a win in the semifinal over former teammate

. In the final, he lost a close game to

, losing his bid for a third consecutive nationals title and a chance to play at the world championships. Fenson and his team played at the 2013 United States Men's Curling Championship, but failed to qualify for the playoffs, losing to McCormick in a five-team tiebreaker. Upon their semifinal win at the 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship, Fenson and his team were qualified to participate at the 2014 United States Olympic Curling Trials. Fenson and his team finished second in the round robin, and played

in the three-game final round, but lost after a lopsided third game. Fenson was hired by

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

to work as a curling analyst during the Olympic games.

Personal life

Fenson is married to his wife Roxanne and has two sons, Alex and Graem. He enjoys golf, biking, and spending time with family. His brother, Eric Fenson, is a curler and former teammate. His son

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

is a member of his team. Fenson has a bachelor's degree in technical illustration and graphic design. He is the owner of a restaurant, Dave's Pizza, which operates in Bemidji, Minnesota. He is currently employed as a coach with

USA Curling The United States Curling Association (USCA or USA Curling) is the national governing body of the sport of curling in the United States. The goal of the USCA is to grow the sport of curling in the United States and win medals in competitions bot ...

.2019 Continental Cup Media Guide: Pete Fenson

Grand Slam record

Fenson was only active in Grand Slam events between 2003 and 2009

Teams

Awards and honors

Athlete of the Year: 2003, 2005, 2011 *

Team of the Year: 2006 *

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

Team of the Month: December 2005 *

Team of the Year: 2006

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenson, Pete 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from Bemidji, Minnesota American male curlers Curlers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Curling broadcasters Olympic curlers for the United States Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in curling Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics American curling champions Continental Cup of Curling participants American curling coaches 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen