In his first Olympics in Torino eight years ago John Shuster and the U.S. Olympic Curling Team received worldwide accolades for attaining the Bronze Medal in competition with the world’s best. So it was that four years later expectations were raised and hopes were high. Four straight losses crushed those hopes as the team finished 2-7 in Vancouver, Shuster himself benched for a portion of those games. But the Chisholm native is back, having boarded a plane to Russia along with Minnesota teammates Jeff Isaacson of Virginia, Jared Zezel of Hibbing and Lance Landsteiner of Mapleton.

Dick Wicklund, general manager of the Duluth Curling Club, is proud to be associated with these young men with big hearts and dreams. “It’s an honor (to be associated with them), especially when you see how hard they work. Shuster himself plays in three curling leagues,” says Wicklund.
Only Jeff Isaacson was alongside Shuster in that disappointing Vancouver experience. Shuster’s current team was assembled for the 2012-13 season with strong results, and medals. Team Shuster is leaving nothing to chance and taking nothing for granted.  Shuster knows what winning feels like, having taken a gold as the lead in Pete Fenson’s curling squad that won the U.S. Men’s Curling Championship in Utica and again in 2005 at Madison. Shuster has five gold medals including his most recent in Broomfield as skip, the captain of the team who determines the strategy.

One thing different this time around for Shuster is that he’s bringing his wife and 8-month-old son along. And they flew overseas ten days before their first match, February 10, in an effort to alleviate the effects of jet lag. The drama is about to begin.

Fun Facts:

 The Rock, also called the stone, weighs about 44 pounds.