Russ Howard

Named curler of the century by Sweep magazine, Russell “Russ” Howard is an Olympic gold-medal winner and record 107 time winner of the Brier championship. Widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest ever curlers, his 30 years of competitive curling have seen him win two World championships, two Canadian championships and the first-ever Canadian Olympic gold medal in men’s curling. He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, and two years later was named a Member of the Order of Canada.

He released his autobiography Hurry Hard: The Russ Howard Story in 2006 and in 2014 published Curl to Win, an ultimate guide to understanding the strategy and techniques for success in curling. When Howard isn’t curling he is appears on The Sports Network where he has worked as an analyst and commentator since 2001. He is also a curling coach in Switzerland, a real estate agent for RE/MAX and an in-demand motivational speaker.

Hailing from Midland, Ontario, Howard is credited with introducing the Moncton Rule – which has since evolved into the free guard zone rule used in international and Olympic curling. As a skip, Howard took part in three unsuccessful Olympic trials (1987, 1997 and 2001), but in 2005 he joined team Gushue, going on to win the trials and earning a place representing Canada at the Winter Olympics in 2006. The team defeated Finland to win gold for Canada, with Howard becoming the oldest Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal aged 50.