U.S. men's curling skip John Shuster, who helped lead the Duluth-based team to a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, attended the White House state dinner Tuesday night.
"It was pretty incredible ... you don't think something like that would ever happen," Shuster told the News Tribune Wednesday.
Shuster joined fellow gold medalist Meghan Duggan, captain of the U.S. women's ice hockey team, at the dinner.
This was Shuster's fourth trip to the White House. He's visited for school and for past Olympic athlete visits, but he said this was by far the most elegant visit.
"Where I had the most exquisite dinner of my life last night, I ate a bagged lunch on the floor waiting to meet the president the last time," Shuster said, describing when he joined fellow Olympic athletes at the White House to meet the president a few years ago.
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During Tuesday's event, Shuster, a Chisholm native now living in Superior, found himself bumping into the nation's top business and political leaders.
Shuster sat next to Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana and several generals representing different branches of the military. He posed for a photo with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, stood in line next to Apple CEO Tim Cook and chatted with Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as they both left the dinner.
"They were very, very nice," Shuster said of McDaniel and her husband. "I'm not saying I'm going to be a Republican going forward, but they were very nice."
Shuster is in D.C. all week for an athlete career summit and will return to the White House Friday to meet President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump with other U.S. Olympians and Paralympians who competed in the 2018 Winter Games.
