EVENT - CURLING, SKIP
Teammates: Jason Smith, Jeff Isaacson, John Benton
HEIGHT 6'0" WEIGHT 195 lbs.
OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHTS
- 2010 Olympic Winter Games
- 2006 Olympic Winter Games - Bronze medal
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2003 World Championships - eighth
- 2005 World Championships - sixth
- 2006 Olympic Winter Games bronze medalist
- 2006 World Championships - fourth
- 2009 World Championships - fifth (tied)
- U.S. Olympic Team Trials: 2009 (champion), 2005 (champion)
- U.S. National Championships: 2009 (champion), 2008 (6th), 2006 (champion), 2005 (champion), 2004 (runner-up), 2003 (champion)
- World Curling Championships: 2009, 2006 (4th), 2005 (6th), 2003 (8th)
- World University Games: 2007 (gold)
- World Curling Tour Players Championship: 2006 (quarterfinalist), 2005 (quarterfinalist)
- U.S. Men's Junior Nationals: 2004 (champion), 2002 (runner-up)
- Minnesota State Championships: 2003 (runner-up)
- Minnesota State Junior Championships: 2004 (champion), 2003 (runner-up), 2002 (champion)
- Minnesota State High School Curling Championships: 1999 (champion)
- John was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" section in February 2004.
- USA Curling Team of the Year: 2006
PERSONAL
Delivers: Right-handed
Curls out of: Duluth (Minn.) Curling Club
Year started curling: 1997
Shuster didn't start curling until 1997, but he quickly became one of the best in the fast-rising sport in the U.S. By 1999, he was the Minnesota State High School Curling Champion. He was a 2002 U.S. Junior Championships runner-up. He reached the top in 2003 as part of the U.S. Championship-winning rink.
His hobbies include fishing, hunting, fantasy football, golf and playing and coaching softball. He also wakeboards and has three dogs.
DID YOU KNOW...?
- Featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" in February 2004
- Nicknamed "Shoostie"
- Works as a bartender in Duluth, Minn., in the winters and on the grounds crew of a golf course in the summers
- Named freestyle aerials as the other Olympic sport he would like to try
Education: University of Minnesota-Duluth
Other sports: Baseball, golf, watching any sports on TV, fishing, hunting, fantasy football, wakeboarding, "Halo 2"
Other Olympic sport he'd like to try: Freestyle aerials
Hobbies: "Hunting, fishing, wakeboarding, fantasy football and raising our three dogs."
Curling start: "My dad curls, so when I decided to hang up the basketball shoes, I needed a new winter activity. I went down to the club on Junior Night and have been hooked ever since."
Training regimen: "I curl in three leagues a week and throw 50 rocks a day, followed by a game or two of cards."
What he enjoys most about curling: "I enjoy meeting new people and making new friends, even at the highest levels of competition."
Curling family: "My dad, mom, sister and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins all participate in our holiday bonspiel [where] the Shuster family trophy is awarded."
Curling goals: "Curl in the Olympics and medal. Curl at World Championships and medal."
Favorite motivational quote: "Everything happens for a reason."
IMAGE FROM GETTY IMAGES