Team USA curler from Minnesota says people's rights being quashed at home

4 days ago 9

Two-time nationalist curling champion Rich Ruohonen said he's arrogant to correspond the United States astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics successful Italy, adjacent though "it's been tough" successful his location authorities of Minnesota.

"I'm a lawyer there. I've been for 28 years, and a batch of tragedy, a batch of difficulties. And, you know, we privation to absorption connected the Games, but astatine the aforesaid time, what's going connected determination is wrong," Ruohonen told CBS News erstwhile asked however it is being astatine the Olympics and reasoning astir the quality that has been coming retired of his location state. In caller weeks, national migration agents person killed 2 radical successful high-profile shootings successful Minneapolis successful the people of their operations there.

"We person inalienable rights successful our constitution: Freedom of press, state of speech, the close to not person unreasonable searches and seizures and not beryllium pulled implicit for, you know, without probable cause. And those rights aren't being followed successful Minnesota," Ruohonen said.

Despite the turbulence astatine home, Ruohonen told CBS News the Olympics showcases immoderate of the champion of what it means to beryllium a Minnesotan, and an American. As CBS Minnesota reported Tuesday, Ruohonen, astatine 54, is the oldest American ever to vie successful a Winter Games.

2022 U.S. Curling Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials

"The Olympics, it brings this unity, this respect and this compassion, and Minnesota has shown retired and utilized that," Ruohonen said. "Respect, compassion, empathy for radical that is sometimes lacking successful our country, but we, I privation to marque nary mistake astir it, we're playing for the U.S. We emotion the U.S. We emotion the U.S. We emotion what the emblem is and what it represents. And we're present to enactment our families and our friends that gave up truthful overmuch for america to beryllium present today."

Luc Violette, different subordinate of the USA Curling National Team, said a batch of American fans had traveled to Cortina, Italy, to enactment the athletes.

"USA is everywhere. We felt truly invited present and proceed to consciousness (welcome)," helium said.

During Tuesday's mixed doubles event, Corey Thiesse became the archetypal U.S. pistillate curler to ever triumph an Olympic medal erstwhile she won metallic alongside Korey Dropkin.

But curling is simply a athletics galore Americans aren't needfully excessively acquainted with.

"I mean, I'll beryllium frank. It's weird," Violette told CBS News. "How anyone came up with this athletics is insane. I inactive don't know. There's inactive parts of the physics that we don't understand, but … it truly brings a batch of accomplishment sets together. Our manager ever says that the champion curler is simply a well-rounded person, and truthful we emotion it, and we anticipation that this benignant of vulnerability volition stock that emotion for our athletics with a batch of others."

Ruohonen said the athletics has changed a batch implicit the years.

Thirty years ago, for instance, "it wasn't arsenic carnal of a sport," helium said. "You could triumph and beryllium mode overweight, oregon smoking a cigaret connected the ice."

He said the "game has developed to an unbelievable level implicit the people of my lifetime."

"When you're sweeping, you're leaning a ample bulk of your value connected your broom and moving it backmost and forth. And you're connected your tippy toes a lot. So you person to beryllium strong," helium said. "You person to person a beardown precocious body. You person the legs. You're perpetually sliding retired successful a lunging position. That unsocial is hard. And I don't cognize if you've ever tried conscionable lasting connected crystal for, let's accidental six, 8 hours a day. Just basal there, don't bash thing 1 clip and spot however your backmost feels and your muscles feel, due to the fact that erstwhile we play 2 games successful a day, we are retired connected the crystal for six to 8 hours sometimes."

The Team USA curlers said they've spent a batch of clip explaining the sport. So what is it each about?

"I usually subordinate it to bocce ball," Violette told CBS News. "It's astir what you people astatine the extremity of the end, aft each the rocks are thrown. You privation much [curling stones] person to the mediate than the closest of the opposing team. And yeah, sweeping makes the stone spell farther. And there's a directional element. We tin marque it curl more, curl less. It's called curling due to the fact that the stone curls oregon curves. And it's hard. Come effort it out."

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