Two-time national champion in curling Rich Ruohonen said he’s proud to represent the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, even though “it’s been tough” in his home state of Minnesota.

“I’m a lawyer there. I’ve been there for 28 years, and a lot of tragedies, a lot of hardship. And, you know, we want to focus on the Games, but at the same time, what’s going on there is wrong,” Ruohonen told CBS News when asked how he’s doing at the Olympics and thinking about the news coming out of his home country. In recent weeks, federal immigration agents killed two people in a high-profile shooting in Minneapolis during their operations there.

“We have inalienable rights in our constitution: freedom of the press, freedom of speech, the right not to have unreasonable searches and seizures and not to be stopped, you know, without good reason. And those rights are not respected in Minnesota,” Ruohonen said.

Despite the turbulence at home, Ruohonen told CBS News that the Olympics showcase the best of what it means to be a Minnesotan and an American. As CBS Minnesota reported On Tuesday, Ruohonen, at 54, became the oldest American to ever compete in the Winter Games.

“The Olympics bring this unity, this respect and this compassion, and Minnesota showed that and took advantage of that,” Ruohonen said. “Respect, compassion, empathy for people that are sometimes lacking in our country, but we, I don’t want to make any mistake about it, play for the USA. We love the USA. We love the USA. We love what the flag is and what it represents. And we’re here to support our families and our friends who gave up so much to be here today.”

Luc Violette, another member of the U.S. curling team, said many American fans traveled to Cortina, Italy, to cheer on the athletes.

“The US is everywhere. We felt really welcome here and we continue to feel (welcomed),” he said.

During Tuesday’s mixed doubles competition, Corey Thiesse became the first American curler to ever win an Olympic medal when she teamed up with Korey Dropkin for silver.

But curling is a sport that many Americans are not very familiar with.

“I mean, I’ll be honest. It’s weird,” Violette told CBS News. “It’s crazy how anyone came up with this sport. I still don’t know. There are still parts of the physics we don’t understand, but … it really brings together a lot of skill sets. Our coach always says the best curler is a well-rounded person, so we love that and hope this kind of exposure will share that love of our sport with many others.”

Ruohonen said the sport has changed a lot over the years.

30 years ago, for example, “it wasn’t like a physical sport,” he said. “You could win and be fat, or smoke a cigarette on ice.”

He said “the game has evolved to an incredible level in my lifetime.”

“When you’re sweeping, you’re putting a lot of your weight on the broom and you’re moving it back and forth. And you’re often on your toes. So you have to be strong,” he said. “You’ve got to have a strong upper body. You’ve got your legs. You’re sliding in a forward position all the time. That’s just hard. And I don’t know if you’ve ever tried just standing on the ice, say six, eight hours a day. You just stand there, don’t do anything once and see how your back and muscles feel, because when we play two games a day, sometimes we’re on the ice for six to eight hours.”

The Team USA curlers said he spent a lot of time explaining the sport. So what is it all about?

“I usually associate it with bocce ball,” Violette told CBS News. “It’s about what you achieve at the end of the end, after all the rocks have been thrown. You want more (curling stones) closer to the middle than the nearest opposing team. And yes, clearing makes the rock go further. And there’s an element of direction. We can make it curl more, curl less. It’s called curling because the rock twists or bends. And it’s hard. Come try it.”