John Landsteiner

John Landsteiner (born May 19, 1990) is an American curler and two-time Olympian from Duluth, Minnesota. He competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics and won gold as part of John Shuster's team in the 2018 Winter Olympics.[2]

John Landsteiner
Curler
Born (1990-05-19) May 19, 1990
Mankato, Minnesota[1]
Team
Curling clubDuluth CC,
Duluth, MN
SkipJohn Shuster
ThirdChris Plys
SecondMatt Hamilton
LeadJohn Landsteiner
AlternateJared Zezel
Career
Member Association United States
World Championship
appearances		4 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
Olympic
appearances		2 (2014, 2018)
Medal record
Men's curling
Representing  United States
Winter Olympics
2018 PyeongchangTeam
World Championships
2016 Basel
US Men's Championship
2020 Cheney
2019 Kalamazoo
2017 Everett
2015 Kalamazoo
2016 Jacksonville
2013 Green Bay
2012 Philadelphia
US Olympic Trials
2017 Omaha
2013 Fargo

Career

Landsteiner was a prolific junior curler, playing in the United States Junior Curling Championships six times, every year from 2007 through 2011. His best finish was in 2008 when he earned the bronze medal playing lead for Brad Caldwell. In 2011 Landsteiner participated at the World Junior Championships as alternate for Aaron Wald's team.[3]

Since ageing out of juniors in 2012 Landsteiner has played lead for John Shuster's team. With this team Landsteiner has played in seven US National Championships, only missing one year, 2018, because of obligations after the Olympics. Of the seven appearances at the National Championship, Team Shuster earned a medal six times, including gold in 2015, 2017, and 2019.

Landsteiner's team placed first at the 2013 United States Olympic Curling Trials,[1] then earned the final qualification spot for the 2014 Olympics at the qualification event when they won the second qualifier 8–5 over the Czech Republic.[4] At the Winter Games the American men finished 9th out of 10 teams, with a record of 2–7.[5]

After the poor performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics, the United States Curling Association held an athlete combine to determine which curlers to include in their High Performance Program (HPP), aimed at having better success at the next Olympics. Landsteiner and Shuster were two of the athletes dropped from the HPP. In response, Shuster created a new team nicknamed "The Rejects" with Landsteiner at lead, fellow combine reject Matt Hamilton at second, and Tyler George at third, who hadn't attended the combine due to his work.[6] They maintained this line-up for four seasons and found great success. At the National Championships in 2015 they defeated both HPP teams to win the gold medal.[7] Representing the United States at the 2015 World Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Team Shuster missed out on the playoffs when they lost a tiebreaker to Finland's Aku Kauste.[8] As a result of its success, Team Shuster was added to the High Performance Program for 2016.[6]

Landsteiner and his team came up just short of defending their national title in 2016, losing to Brady Clark in the final. Despite finishing in second, Team Shuster earned enough points throughout the season to secure their return trip to the World Championship.[9] In Basel, Switzerland they defeated Japan's Yusuke Morozumi in the bronze medal match, earning the first World Men's medal for the United States since 2007.[10][11] For the 2016–17 season they added Joe Polo, a former teammate of Shuster and George, as alternate and won the 2017 National Championship. At the 2017 World Championship, their third Worlds in a row, they lost in the bronze medal game against Team Switzerland, skipped by Peter de Cruz.[12]

At the 2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials Landsteiner and his team beat Heath McCormick's team in a best-of-three final series to represent the US at the Olympics a second time. In the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, the US team lost four of its first six matches and needed to win all of its three remaining matches to qualify for the playoffs, but all of its remaining opponents (Canada, Switzerland, and Great Britain) were currently among the top four teams. Nevertheless, the US team won all three matches to finish the round-robin in third place with a record of 5–4. In the semifinals they defeated Canada's Kevin Koe, a two-time world champion, to reach the gold-medal match versus Niklas Edin's team representing Sweden. The gold-medal game was close through seven ends, with the score tied 5–5, but the United States scored five in the eighth end to set up a 10–7 victory.[6][13][14] This was the first Olympic gold medal in curling for the United States.

Landsteiner and Team Shuster again won the US National Championship in 2019.[15] At the 2019 World Championship they finished 5th.[16] They defended their United States title at the 2020 United States Men's Championship, defeating Rich Ruohonen in the final to finish the tournament undefeated.[17] The national title would have earned Team Shuster a spot at the final Grand Slam of the season, the Champions Cup,[18] as well as the chance to represent the United States at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship, but both events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] Their Champions Cup qualification will instead carry over to the 2021 Champions Cup.[20]

Personal life

Landsteiner's hometown is Mapleton, Minnesota and he currently resides in Duluth, Minnesota.[21] He graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth in 2013 with a degree in civil engineering.[1][22] He currently works as a corrosion engineer for Lake Superior Consulting[23] and is married.[24]

Teams
Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Coach Events
2007–08 Brad CaldwellMatt CollomTyler VietanenJohn Landsteiner2008 USJCC
2008–09 Brad CaldwellMatt CollomTyler VietanenJohn Landsteiner2009 USJCC (9th)
2010–11 John LandsteinerTyler VietanenMatt CollomRobert Splinter2011 USJCC (4th)
Aaron WaldJosh BahrJared ZezelJohn MullerJohn LandsteinerTim Muller2011 WJCC (6th)
2011–12 John ShusterZach JacobsonJared ZezelJohn Landsteiner2012 USMCC
2012–13 John ShusterJeff IsaacsonJared ZezelJohn Landsteiner2013 USMCC
2013–14 John ShusterJeff IsaacsonJared ZezelJohn LandsteinerCraig Brown (OG) Tim Muller2013 USOCT
2014 USMCC (5th)
2014 OG (9th)
2014–15 John ShusterTyler GeorgeMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerCraig Brown (WMCC)Pete Fenson2015 USMCC
2015 WMCC (5th)
2015–16 John ShusterTyler GeorgeMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerKroy Nernberger (WMCC)Phill Drobnick2016 USMCC
2016 WMCC
2016–17 John ShusterTyler GeorgeMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerJoe PoloPhill Drobnick2017 USMCC
2017 WMCC (4th)
2017–18 John ShusterTyler GeorgeMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerJoe PoloPhill Drobnick2017 USOCT
2018 OG
2018–19 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerKorey Dropkin (WMCC)Derek Brown2019 USMCC
2019 WMCC (5th)
2019–20 John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerSean Beighton2020 USMCC
2020–21[25] John ShusterChris PlysMatt HamiltonJohn LandsteinerSean Beighton
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References
  1. "John Landsteiner". Team USA. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
  2. "U.S. men's curling team earns spot in Sochi". ESPN. 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  3. "World Junior Curling Championships 2011: Tournament details". World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  4. "U.S. beats Czech Republic 8-5 in men's curling playoff". CTVNews. 2013-12-15. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  5. "XXII. Olympic Winter Games 2014: Tournament details". results.worldcurling.org. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  6. Peters, Justin (February 22, 2018). "Somebody Needs to Make a Movie About John Shuster and His Ragtag Team of Curling Rejects". Slate Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  7. "2015 USA Men's National Championship – Playoffs". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  8. "FINLAND EKES OUT TIEBREAKER WIN AT FORD WORLDS". Curling Canada. April 3, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  9. Davis, Terry (February 13, 2016). "Team Clark sweeps up national title". USA Curling. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  10. "World Men's Curling Championship 2016: Tournament details". results.worldcurling.org. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  11. Bohnert, Shane (April 10, 2016). "U.S. Men's Curling Team Wins First World Medal In 9 Years". Team USA. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  12. "Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2017". World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  13. Estes, Gentry (February 23, 2018). "Morning Coffee: To John Shuster of USA Curling: I'm sorry for doubting you". Louisville Courier-Journal. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  14. Hendricks, Maggie (February 28, 2018). "Olympic curler John Shuster on the mantra that brought his team back from brink of elimination". USA Today. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  15. "Shuster claims seventh national title as he leads team in Kalamazoo". Team USA. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  16. "Pioneer Hi-Bred World Men's Curling Championship 2019: Tournament details". results.worldcurling.org. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  17. Schneider, Angela (2020-02-15). "John Shuster caps unbeaten run through USA Curling Nationals with win over Rich Ruohonen in final". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  18. "Ruohonen Joins Shuster in Top Page Game". USA Curling. 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  19. "Canadian curling continues to get hammered by novel coronavirus cancellations". The Star. Mar 14, 2020. Retrieved Apr 27, 2020.
  20. "2020 Humpty's Champions Cup teams to keep spots for next season". Grand Slam of Curling. Mar 18, 2020. Retrieved Apr 27, 2020.
  21. Frederick, Shane (February 6, 2018). "Mapleton's John Landsteiner returning to Olympic curling rink". Mankato Free Press. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  22. "UMD Bulldogs Shine at the Winter Olympics". University of Minnesota Duluth. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  23. 2018 Continental Cup Media Guide
  24. 2017 Ford Worlds Media Guide: Team USA
  25. "Team Shuster Returns". USA Curling. May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
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