MEN’S OLYMPIC CURLING KICKS OFF TONIGHT, WOMEN’S PLAY DEBUTS TOMORROW
Photo by: World Curling
[EDEN PRAIRIE, MN, February 11, 2026] — After earning a silver in Mixed Doubles play, Team USA curlers will look to collect more hardware in the Men’s and Women’s competitions.
Four-person curling starts for the United States starts in the evening on February 11th, when Team Casper takes to the ice in the first Men’s session for a game against Czechia at the Curling Stadium in Cortina.
Skip Danny Casper (Briarcliff Manor, NY), Third Luc Violette (Lake Stevens, WA), Second Ben Richardson (Issaquah, WA), Lead Aidan Oldenburg (Mapleton, MN), and Alternate Rich Ruohonen (Brooklyn Park, MN) will look to build on their strong play at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling in November and the Olympic Qualification Event in December. The team of Games rookies defeated five-time Olympian and 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist John Shuster in a thrilling Best-of-Three final at the Trials in Sioux Falls.
The team includes some of the youngest players to ever compete for Team USA at the Games, along with Ruohenen, who is the oldest competitor in the Olympics at 54.
Women’s play gets started on February 12th, when Tabitha Peterson will lead her team into their first game against Korea. Skip Peterson (St. Paul, MN) is in her third Games while her sister, Second Tara Peterson (St. Paul, MN), will make a second appearance. For Third Cory Thiesse (Duluth, MN), this marks her second trip to the Games, while Lead Taylor Anderson-Heide (Broomall, PA) will be on Olympic ice for the first time. Alternate Aileen Geving (Duluth, MN) becomes a three-time Olympian.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our Men’s and Women’s competitors,” said USA Curling CEO Dean Gemmell. “Both teams have demonstrated real grit and resilience over the last two seasons to reach this moment, and we can’t wait to see them on the ice against this amazing international field.”
Since curling returned as a medal sport at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the United States has captured three medals—a men’s bronze in 2006, a men’s gold in 2018, and the silver won at these Games by the Mixed Doubles pair of Cory Thiesse Korey Dropkin.
A full schedule of curling coverage in the United States can be found here.
About USA Curling
Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA Curling is the National Governing body for the Olympic sport of curling and the Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling in the United States. The mission of USA Curling is to grow, strengthen, and advocate for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of curling in the United States by prioritizing accessibility and programmatic development from grassroots to podium. USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, the Dale’s family of beers, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Ice, Sports & Solar (ISS), Rock Solid Productions, Jet Ice, and Laurie Artiss. USA Curling is a proud member of World Curling and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. To learn more, visit usacurling.org.
