The Shuster file
Sport: curling • Age: 31
Hometown: Chisholm
Current residence: Duluth
Family: wife, Sara; son Luke, 8 months
Olympic history: Will compete in his third consecutive Olympics in Sochi, his second as a skip. Shuster was the lead for Pete Fenson's team that earned the bronze medal at the Turin Olympics in 2006. In the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, he skipped the U.S. to a 2-7 record (10th place).
Other career highlights: Shuster was a state and national champion in the junior ranks before winning three U.S. men's championships with Team Fenson. He skipped the U.S. to gold at the 2007 World University Games, has competed in four world championships and is a four-time U.S. champion.
Career outside of curling: Shuster has a degree in marketing from Minnesota Duluth and has been a bartender and restaurant manager, most recently at Duluth's well-known Pickwick. He currently is a stay-at-home dad and hopes to continue curling for several years, then move into coaching or athlete development.
Twist of fate: As a junior curler, Shuster already had been approached about joining another team when he heard Fenson was looking for a prospect. After two weeks passed without a call from the other team, he asked to be considered for the Fenson crew. Fenson called him the next day, and he committed — just before the other suitors contacted him. "If they had called me a week earlier, where does my life in curling go?'' he said.
