Jamie Haskell

Jamie Haskell (née Johnson) (born July 18, 1980) is a member of the United States women's curling team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Jamie was born in Bemidji, Minnesota, and is the older sister of Team USA skip Cassandra Potter. She usually plays third on her sister's team, and together they have won the silver medal at the 2005 World Championships, the championship at the U.S. Trials in February 2005, and the gold medal at the 2002 Junior World Championships. Playing third, Jamie excels at take-outs and setting up key shots for her skip.

Growing up in Bemidji (which is also home to Team USA men's skip Pete Fenson), the Johnson sisters were born to curl. Their grandparents and great-grandparents were avid curlers, and their parents, Tim and Liz Johnson, won the U.S. national mixed curling title in 1980. In fact, that championship came when Liz was five months pregnant with Jamie; according to Johnson family legend, shortly after Jamie's birth, she was placed in the bowl-shaped trophy her parents won at Nationals.

Coming off a silver medal at the 2005 Worlds, the U.S. Women anticipated a strong showing at the Torino Games. Jamie and her teammates' first trip to the Winter Olympics failed to live up to their expectations, though, as the team finished well shy of the medal round with just 2 wins. The team was the youngest (average age: 22) ever to represent the United States in curling at the elite level, however, and expects to return to the Olympic stage in 2010.

Personal life

Like her sister, Jamie studied Design Technology at Bemidji State University, but her emphasis was in exhibit design while Cassie specialized in graphic design. Jamie finished her degree in 2005, and is currently looking for a job in the field (there are no such jobs in Bemidji). In the meantime, she and several of her U.S. teammates have been working part-time at the local Home Depot while preparing for the Olympics (she works in human resources). She and her sister like to play tennis and go fishing when they're not traveling with the team or working on their respective games at the Bemidji Curling Club. Jamie recently married Nate Haskell.

External links

* [http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5058245/detail.html NBC Olympics Profile]
* [http://curlgirls.cpotter.net/ Team USA Women's Curling Homepage]