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Matt Hamilton (curler)

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Matthew Hamilton
Curler
Born (1989-02-19) February 19, 1989 (age 35)
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Team
Curling clubMadison CC,
McFarland, WI[1]
SkipJohn Shuster
ThirdChris Plys
SecondColin Hufman
LeadMatt Hamilton
AlternateJohn Landsteiner
Mixed doubles
partner		Becca Hamilton
Curling career
Member Association United States
World Championship
appearances		7 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances		3 (2017, 2022, 2024)
Pan Continental Championship
appearances		1 (2024)
Olympic
appearances		2 (2018, 2022)
Medal record
Men's Curling
Representing  United States
Winter Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2018 Pyeongchang Team
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Basel
Pan Continental Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Lacombe
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Östersund
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Vancouver
US Men's Championship
Gold medal – first place 2020 Cheney
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kalamazoo
Gold medal – first place 2017 Everett
Gold medal – first place 2015 Kalamazoo
Gold medal – first place 2023 Denver
Gold medal – first place 2024 East Rutherford
Silver medal – second place 2014 Philadelphia
Silver medal – second place 2016 Jacksonville
US Olympic Trials
Gold medal – first place 2017 Omaha
Gold medal – first place 2021 Omaha
US Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials
Gold medal – first place 2017 Blaine
US Mixed Doubles Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Blaine
Gold medal – first place 2022 Middleton
Gold medal – first place 2024 Traverse City

Matthew James Hamilton (born February 19, 1989) is an American curler from McFarland, Wisconsin.[2] He currently plays front-end on Team John Shuster. He is a World Junior Champion, World Men's bronze medalist, and Olympic gold medalist.

Curling career

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2007–2014: Early career

[edit]

Hamilton played for skip Jeremy Roe at the 2007 and 2008 United States Men's National Championships, placing seventh[3] and ninth,[4] respectively. In 2008 he also joined Chris Plys' junior team, who had won the National Junior Championship the two previous years. Hamilton helped make it four Junior National Titles in a row for Plys, winning the 2008 and 2009 championships.[5]

As national champions, Hamilton and Team Plys represented the United States at the World Junior Championships. At the 2008 World Juniors in Östersund, Sweden they took home gold medals after beating Sweden's Oskar Eriksson 9–5 in the final. While in Sweden, Hamilton won the championship's 2008 Sportsmanship Award, an award only given to one male junior curler and one female junior curler.[2]

The following year, at the 2009 World Junior Championships held in the newly completed Vancouver Olympic Centre, they failed to defend their title, ending up with bronze medals.[5] Hamilton and his juniors team also competed at the 2009 United States Olympic Trials, which doubled as that year's national championship, finishing in eighth place with a 3–6 record.

For the 2009–10 season Hamilton returned to Jeremy Roe's team, as third.

In the stages leading up to the 2011 United States Men's Curling Championship, he played as Paul Pustovar's second through the Medford qualifier and the challenge round, eventually qualifying for the Nationals. He replaced Pustovar as skip in the Nationals and finished seventh with a 3–6 win–loss record.

Starting with the 2011–12 curling season, Hamilton joined Craig Brown at third for three seasons. This stint culminated with a silver medal at the 2014 National Championship, Hamilton's first men's championship medal.

2014–2018: Gold with Team Shuster

[edit]

After 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. Hamilton attended the combine but was not chosen as one of the ten male HPP curlers. John Shuster, three-time Olympian at that point, was also not chosen and, in response, created a new team nicknamed "The Rejects", bringing on Hamilton at second, fellow Olympian and combine reject John Landsteiner at lead, 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 their first National Championships together in 2015, they defeated Hamilton's former skip Brown in the final 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]

Hamilton 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] 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.[11] Hamilton attended a second world curling championship this season, representing the United States at the 2017 World Mixed Doubles Championship after he and his sister and doubles partner Becca Hamilton won the US Championship. At the Worlds in Lethbridge, Alberta, they won their group during the round-robin phase and were the second seed going into the playoffs but ultimately ended in tenth place.[12]

Early in his fourth season on Team Shuster, Hamilton won the 2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials[6] with them and then a month later won the 2017 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials with Becca, earning his spot in both curling disciplines for his first Olympics.

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. In the mixed doubles competition, the Hamilton siblings did not fare as well, finishing in sixth place with a 2–5 record.[15]

2018–present: Post-Olympics

[edit]

After the Olympics, George took a break from competitive curling, and Team Shuster replaced him at third with Chris Plys. The slightly revamped team continued winning, taking gold at the 2019 United States Men's Championship. At the 2019 World Men's Championship, they finished in fifth place, having lost to Japan in the first round of playoffs. 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.[16] The national title would have earned Team Shuster a spot at the final Grand Slam of the season, the Champions Cup,[17] 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.[18]

Team Shuster represented the United States at the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship, which was played in a fan-less bubble in Calgary due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There, the team led the U.S. to a 10–3 round robin record, in third place.[19] They played Switzerland in the playoffs, in a game which was delayed a day due to some curlers testing positive for the virus. In the game, Switzerland, skipped by Peter de Cruz, beat the Americans to advance to the semifinals.[20]

Personal life

[edit]

Hamilton is a former research and development technician[21][22] for Spectrum Brands. He currently works for ESPN as a radio host. He is married and resides in McFarland, Wisconsin.[23] His sister, Becca Hamilton, is also an elite curler. She played with Nina Roth in the women's event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, as well as with Matt in the mixed doubles event.

Hamilton gained notoriety on Twitter after tweets comparing him to video game character Mario in 2018 and Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas in 2022 surfaced.[24][25]

Teams

[edit]

Men's

[edit]
Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Coach Events
2006–07 Jeremy Roe Matt Hamilton Scott Templeton Mark Hartman Kroy Nernberger 2007 USMCC (7th)
2007–08 Chris Plys Aanders Brorson Matt Perushek Matt Hamilton Daniel Plys Phill Drobnick 2008 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2008 WJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Jeremy Roe Patrick Roe Richard Maskel Mark Hartman Matt Hamilton 2008 USMCC (9th)
2008–09 Chris Plys Aanders Brorson Matt Perushek Matt Hamilton Aaron Wald Phill Drobnick 2009 USJCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2009 WJCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Chris Plys Aanders Brorson Matt Perushek Matt Hamilton Phill Drobnick 2009 USMCC/USOCT (9th)
2009–10 Jeremy Roe Matt Hamilton Patrick Roe Tom Gabower
2010–11 Matt Hamilton Jeremy Roe Joseph Bonfoey Patrick Roe Paul Pustovar 2011 USMCC (7th)
2011–12 Craig Brown Matt Hamilton Kroy Nernberger Derrick Casper 2012 USMCC (4th)
2013–14 Craig Brown Kroy Nernberger Matt Hamilton Jon Brunt 2013 USMCC (7th)
2013–14 Craig Brown Kroy Nernberger Matt Hamilton Jon Brunt 2014 USMCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2014–15 John Shuster Tyler George Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Craig Brown (WMCC) Pete Fenson 2015 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2015 WMCC (5th)
2015–16 John Shuster Tyler George Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Kroy Nernberger (WMCC) Phill Drobnick 2016 USMCC 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2016 WMCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2016–17 John Shuster Tyler George Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Joe Polo Phill Drobnick 2017 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 WMCC (4th)
2017–18 John Shuster Tyler George Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Joe Polo Phill Drobnick 2017 USOCT 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 OG 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018–19 John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Korey Dropkin (WMCC) Derek Brown CWC/2 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 WMCC (5th)
CWC/GF (6th)
2019–20 John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Sean Beighton 2020 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2020–21[26] John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Colin Hufman Sean Beighton 2021 WMCC (5th)
2021–22 John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Colin Hufman 2021 USOCT 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 OG (4th)
2022–23 John Shuster Chris Plys Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Colin Hufman Phil Drobnick 2023 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 WMCC (8th)
2023–24 John Shuster Chris Plys Colin Hufman Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Theran Michaelis 2024 USMCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2024 WMCC (6th)
2024–25 John Shuster Chris Plys Colin Hufman Matt Hamilton John Landsteiner Theran Michaelis 2024 PCCC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)

Mixed doubles

[edit]
Season Female Male Events
2015–16 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2016 US World Trials (4th)[27]
2016–17 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2017 USMDCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 WMDCC (10th)
2017–18 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2017 USMDOT 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 OG (6th)
2018–19 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2019 USMDCC (QF)
2019–20 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2020 USMDCC (QF)
2020–21[28] Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton
2021–22 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2021 USMDOT (5th)
2022 USMDCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 WMDCC (8th)
2022–23 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2023 USMDCC (5th)
2023–24 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton 2024 USMDCC 1st place, gold medalist(s)[29]
2024 WMDCC (10th)
2024–25 Becca Hamilton Matt Hamilton

References

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  1. ^ "USA Curling National Team Athletes". USA Curling. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Matt Hamilton". USA Curling. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  3. ^ "2007 U.S. National Championships – Round-robin". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  4. ^ "2008 United States Curling Championships – Standings". CurlingZone. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Kolesar, Terry (June 7, 2009). "Plys leads USA to bronze at World Juniors". U.S. Curling News. p. 10. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d 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. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  10. ^ Bohnert, Shane (April 10, 2016). "U.S. Men's Curling Team Wins First World Medal In 9 Years". Team USA. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2017". World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships 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. ^ "XXIII. Olympic Winter Games 2018". World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  16. ^ Schneider, Angela (February 15, 2020). "John Shuster caps unbeaten run through USA Curling Nationals with win over Rich Ruohonen in final". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  17. ^ "Ruohonen Joins Shuster in Top Page Game". USA Curling. February 12, 2020. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  18. ^ "Canadian curling continues to get hammered by novel coronavirus cancellations". The Star. March 14, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  19. ^ "Canada eliminated from men's curling worlds with tense loss to Scotland". CBC. March 14, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  20. ^ Michael Burns (April 11, 2021). "Scotland and Switzerland advance to semi-finals". World Curling Federation. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  21. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^ Jimmy Golen (November 19, 2017). "American curling siblings Matt and Becca Hamilton make Olympics". Denver Post. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  23. ^ "2023 World Men's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  24. ^ "The Winter Olympics' first big star is a curler who looks like Super Mario". February 9, 2018.
  25. ^ "Valtteri Bottas Hilariously Responds to His Resemblance to Olympian Matt Hamilton". Essentially Sports. February 13, 2022.
  26. ^ "Team Shuster Returns". USA Curling. May 13, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  27. ^ "USA Mixed Doubles World Trials – Round-Robin". CurlingZone. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  28. ^ "Mixed Doubles Teams Announced". USA Curling. May 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  29. ^ "USA Curling Mixed Doubles National Championship: Scores".
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