John Shuster (ˈʃuːstər; born November 3, 1982) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 curler

Curling

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...

 and Olympic medalist from Chisholm, Minnesota

Chisholm, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,960 people, 2,178 households, and 1,287 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,129 people per square mile . There were 2,375 housing units at an average density of 540/sq mi...

. He received a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics

2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

 in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

. After skipping the 2010 Olympic team to a last place finish, Shuster joined the Craig Brown

Craig Brown (curler)

Craig Brown is an American curler.Brown is one of the top skips in the U.S. He was the skip of the 2000 and 2008 U.S. champion rinks. At the 2000 Ford World Curling Championships, Brown skipped the U.S. team to a fourth place finish, losing to Finland in the final.Brown played third on the U.S...

 team, as his third.

He participated on the American team at the 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2009 World Curling Championships

World Curling Championships

The World Curling Championships are annual curling events which showcase the world's best curlers, organized by the World Curling Federation. There are men's, women's and mixed championships. The men's championship started in 1959, while the women's in 1979...

.

Shuster won the 2010 United States Olympic Curling Trials

2010 United States Olympic Curling Trials

The 2010 United States Olympic Curling Team Trials/2009 U.S. Nationals were held February 21-28, 2009 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado...

 and represented the United States at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver

Curling at the 2010 Winter Olympics

The curling competition of the 2010 Olympics was held at Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre in Vancouver. It is the fifth time that curling was on the Olympic program, after having been staged in 1924, 1998, 2002 and 2006...

.

At the 2009 Curling World Championships in Moncton, Canada, Shuster and his team finished in fifth place. They ended the Round Robin portion in a tie for the playoffs; however, they lost to Team Norway in the tiebreaker.

2010 Winter Olympics benching

After Shuster missed crucial last-rock shots in three of the United States' first four matches in the 2010 Winter Olympics, U.S. coaches took the unusual step of benching Shuster and replacing him with alternate Chris Plys

Chris Plys

Christopher Plys is an American curler. Plys, who started to curl in 1998, used to curl with Aanders Brorson, Matt Perushek, and Matt Hamilton. He has been in six State Curling Championships, taking first in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009...

. Plys threw third rocks as skip, with Jason Smith throwing fourth rocks. In their first match after Shuster's benching, the U.S. won their first match of the Games when they stole a point from France in the 10th end.

Shuster returned to the ice in the next match, throwing third rocks against Sweden, whom the U.S. defeated. Plys returned to replace lead John Benton against world champion David Murdoch

David Murdoch

David Murdoch is a Scottish curler from Lockerbie. Murdoch and his former team of Ewan MacDonald, Warwick Smith, Euan Byers and Peter Smith were the 2006 and 2009 World Curling Champions.-Background:...

 and Great Britain, but a 4-2 loss dropped the Americans to 2-5, all but assuring they would not qualify for the medal round.

Teams

Event	Skip	3rd	2nd	Lead	Alternate	Result
2010 Winter Olympics Curling at the 2010 Winter Olympics The curling competition of the 2010 Olympics was held at Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre in Vancouver. It is the fifth time that curling was on the Olympic program, after having been staged in 1924, 1998, 2002 and 2006...	John Shuster	Jason Smith Jason Smith (curler) Jason Smith is an American curler from Cape Coral, Florida.He was formerly the third, , of John Shuster's team. His other teammates were Jeff Isaacson and John Benton . As a member of this team, he won the 2009 U.S...	Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson is an internationally elite curler from the United States. He graduated in 2001 from Mesabi East High School in Aurora, Minnesota....	John Benton John Benton (curler) John Benton is an American curler from St. Michael, Minnesota. He started curling in 1975 and made his first US Junior National Championships in 1987. In 1998 he qualified for his first Olympic Trials where he was placed fifth...	Chris Plys Chris Plys Christopher Plys is an American curler. Plys, who started to curl in 1998, used to curl with Aanders Brorson, Matt Perushek, and Matt Hamilton. He has been in six State Curling Championships, taking first in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009...	10th (2-7)
2009 WCC 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championship The 2009 Ford Men's World Curling Championship was held in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada from the 4th to the 12th of April, 2009 at the Moncton Coliseum...	John Shuster	Jason Smith Jason Smith (curler) Jason Smith is an American curler from Cape Coral, Florida.He was formerly the third, , of John Shuster's team. His other teammates were Jeff Isaacson and John Benton . As a member of this team, he won the 2009 U.S...	Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson is an internationally elite curler from the United States. He graduated in 2001 from Mesabi East High School in Aurora, Minnesota....	John Benton John Benton (curler) John Benton is an American curler from St. Michael, Minnesota. He started curling in 1975 and made his first US Junior National Championships in 1987. In 1998 he qualified for his first Olympic Trials where he was placed fifth...	Chris Plys Chris Plys Christopher Plys is an American curler. Plys, who started to curl in 1998, used to curl with Aanders Brorson, Matt Perushek, and Matt Hamilton. He has been in six State Curling Championships, taking first in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009...	5th (7-5)
2009 US Olympic Trials 2010 United States Olympic Curling Trials The 2010 United States Olympic Curling Team Trials/2009 U.S. Nationals were held February 21-28, 2009 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado...	John Shuster	Jason Smith Jason Smith (curler) Jason Smith is an American curler from Cape Coral, Florida.He was formerly the third, , of John Shuster's team. His other teammates were Jeff Isaacson and John Benton . As a member of this team, he won the 2009 U.S...	Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson is an internationally elite curler from the United States. He graduated in 2001 from Mesabi East High School in Aurora, Minnesota....	John Benton John Benton (curler) John Benton is an American curler from St. Michael, Minnesota. He started curling in 1975 and made his first US Junior National Championships in 1987. In 1998 he qualified for his first Olympic Trials where he was placed fifth...		1st (8-4)
2007 Winter Universiade 2007 Winter Universiade The 2007 Winter Universiade, the XXIII Winter Universiade, took place in Turin, Italy from January 17 to January 27, 2007.-Opening ceremony:The Opening Ceremony of the XXIII Winter Universiade Torino 2007 was held with a cast of acrobats, circus performers and dancers.The evening began with the...	John Shuster	Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson Jeff Isaacson is an internationally elite curler from the United States. He graduated in 2001 from Mesabi East High School in Aurora, Minnesota....	Chris Plys Chris Plys Christopher Plys is an American curler. Plys, who started to curl in 1998, used to curl with Aanders Brorson, Matt Perushek, and Matt Hamilton. He has been in six State Curling Championships, taking first in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009...	Shane McKinlay	Kevin Johnson	1st (9-2)
2006 Winter Olympics Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in the town of Pinerolo, Italy from February 13 to February 24. It proved to be the sleeper hit in terms of television ratings in Italy. According to a CBC feature, curling at the 2006 Winter Games drew 5 million viewers, eclipsing ice hockey and figure...	Pete Fenson Pete Fenson Peter Fenson is an American curler, skip of the men's rink which represented the United States at the 2006 Winter Olympics. The rink took the bronze medal, the first ever Olympic medal for the United States in curling...	Shawn Rojeski Shawn Rojeski Shawn Rojeski is an American curler from Chisholm, Minnesota and Olympic medalist. He was born and raised in Biwabik, Minnesota and attended Mesabi East High School. Under skip Pete Fenson, he received a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, playing as the third...	Joseph Polo	John Shuster	Scott Baird Scott Baird Scott Baird is an American curler. At 54, he is the oldest American athlete to ever participate in the Winter Olympics, which he did at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Despite this feat, Baird was only the alternate for Pete Fenson's U.S. team and did not throw a stone. He still received a bronze medal,...	3rd (6-3)