Richard Ruohonen (born March 31, 1971) is an American curler from

Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Brooklyn Park is a suburban city on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from (north of) downtown Minneapolis in northern Hennepin County. It is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 86,478 at the ...

. He is a two-time national champion and as such represented the United States at the

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and

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World Men's Curling Championships.

Career

Ruohonen made his first appearance at the United States Men's Championship in 1998. He won his first national championship in

, playing

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for

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 ...

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 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, and

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, before again earning the gold medal in

. His 2018 gold medal team included Greg Persinger,

Colin Hufman Colin Hufman (born May 15, 1984) is an American curler. He was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, and resides in Seattle. He has been a USA Curling Board member since August 2017 and USA Curling Athlete Representative for the United States Olympic & P ...

, and Philip Tilker. At the

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, ...

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 A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

to attempt to defend his title, he brought along

Jared Allen Jared Scot Allen (born April 3, 1982) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football at Idaho State and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth ...

, retired NFL player, as an alternate. Ruohonen's team lost to

John Shuster John 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 at the 2006 Wint ...

in the final, with a score of 8–4. 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.

Personal life

Ruohonen is an American personal injury

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

. In 2001 he was fellow curler Jason Larway's attorney when they filed a grievance with the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

and the

United States Curling Association The United States Curling Association (USCA or USA Curling) is the national governing body of the sport of curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concent ...

over Larway's eligibility to compete at the 2001 United States Olympic Curling Trials. He is married to Sherry, with two children. He started curling in 1981.

Teams

Grand Slam record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruohonen, Rich Living people American lawyers American male curlers 1971 births Sportspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota People from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota Sportspeople from Hennepin County, Minnesota American curling champions