Ivanka Trump cheered on American men’s curling team as they snagged a historic first ever Olympic gold medal against Sweden Saturday.
The president’s daughter who has been playing America’s Olympic cheerleader high-fived spectators while watching John Shuster and his team win 10-7 against the Swedish word champions.
It is the first gold medal ever for men’s curling, and only the second time they took home a medal in US history.
At one point Ivanka was reading a booklet on curling, perhaps brushing up on the sport not often televised in the United States.
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High-fives! Ivanka excitedly cheered along with fellow spectators during the men’s curling event where USA took home their first ever gold medal
Gold medal winners from left: United States’ curlers Joe Polo, John Landsteiner, Matt Hamilton, Tyler George, John Shuster and captain Phill Drobnick celebrate during the men’s curling venue ceremony at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday
Ivanka posed for selfies with fans eager to capture pieces of the historic games and faces at the Olympic events
Curling guide: Not a sport televised often in the US, Ivanka appeared to be reading up on the game of curling
Tyler George, skip John Shuster, John Landsteiner and Matt Hamilton of the US celebrate after winning the men’s curling final between Sweden and USA at the Gangneung Centre, in Gangneung, during the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games 2018, South Korea, 24 February 2018
Miracurl on ice: Ivanka tweeted excitedly about men’s curling team’s golden win on Saturday sharing the moments with her followers
Ivanka made the rounds at the games Saturday, enthusiastically sharing she’s made some new friends and hung out with Olympians
Olympic gold! Ivanka held curling skip John Shuster’s son Luke for a fun photo-op during the curling event where the men’s team brought home the gold
Thumbs up: Ivanka did her daddy’s signature move for this photo-op shared to Twitter by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders
Ivanka was in good company cheering the men’s team on. The gold medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden were also in the crowd inside the Gangneung Curling Centre.
The Americans had another notable fan, they received a good luck call from Mr. T before the match.
The actor Lawrence Tureaud called the team before they went into battle with Sweden to show his support.
Shuster, who had to lose weight to make the Olympic team, led his band of heroes to the winner’s podium with praise from Mr. T ringing in his ears.
The lack of pace and laid back approach to curling did not put the TV icon off and he Tweeted earlier in the competition: ‘You might not like it but you have to admit it; Curling is cool fool!’
Ivanka Trump flashes a heart for Team USA at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, on 24 February
The First Daughter was pictured, in a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, cheering and smiling as she watched snowboarders vying for medals at the men’s Big Air competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics, next to Kim Jung-sook, wife of South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in
However, once the team received their golden medals they soon realized they were mistakenly given medals for ‘women’s curling.’
At the Olympic press conference, Shuster laughed it off.
‘It wasn’t a big deal at all, I promise,’ Shuster said. The mix-up had by then been corrected.
Shuster, 35, said after collecting his correct gold medal: ‘I think it’s a dream. I’ll wake up tomorrow and this might not be real… It’s just fantastic.’
Millions of Americans agreed with him and stayed up through the night to tune into the drama from Peyongchang which saw Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner and Joe Polo land America’s first ever curling gold medal.
Shuster, who works at a Dicks Sporting Goods store in Superior, Wisconsin, had to get in super-shape for the Korean winter games.
He was left off the US high performance team after the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, an omission that made him change his lifestyle for the better.
‘They wanted athletes. It was really just a wake-up call’ he revealed.
He lost nearly 30 pounds over the following years, and said last year that the effort paid off.
Switzerland took home the bronze medal.
Victory was ever so sweet for skipper Shuster who suffered badly on the internet after previous Olympic failures.
Ivanka Trump, left, watches with Kim Jung-sook, wife of the South Korean President and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, during the men’s Big Air snowboard competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Ivanka jumped to her feet as she watched the final of the men’s snowboard big air event at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre. to her right was wife of Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jung-sook, to her left was US IOC member Angela Ruggiero, and sat one seat further down was White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders
He asked his team mates to stay well away from social media at the Korean Olympic Winter Games.
After his team finished 10th in Vancouver and as the losses piled up, someone even created an Urban Dictionary verb: to ‘Shuster’ meaning ‘to fail to meet expectations’.
He said: ‘That was just somebody being funny, but on Twitter people were seriously mean. During Vancouver, it was awful.’
As soon as The US started their first game in Peyongchang, Twitter and other social media ‘where people are going to be trolling’ was turned off.
Matt Hamilton said last night: ‘The fans out there were so loud, it was just great.
‘We came out here with great intensity and just had to believe we could do it, and make our shots.
‘It was a good game, I have no complaints about it. I’m just happy we were able to start strong and not allow them to get away from us early. We were able to find a rhythm and really start to put some pressure on them.
‘It’s unbelievable, this whole last four years. Just being on the cusp at the world championships. Getting bronze one year, coming fourth and fifth the other two years. We knew we were close, and to make the breakthrough here at the Olympics is just amazing.
‘It’s a feeling I’ve never felt before, even when I won the world junior championships in 2008, this was on another level.
Hamilton, who was 30 during the Olympics, was an Olympic debutant.
But he was joined in Peyongchang by his sister Becca who is a member of the US women’s curling team.
Hamilton’s wife Jen Ann will be glad the Olympics are over for her husband.
He said he grows a moustache every year during the competitive season.
Ivanka Trump (R), reached out to get the attention of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during one tense moment in the Games
Ivanka Trump, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook and South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha attend the Men’s Snowboarding Big Air Final at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre during day fifteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea
‘My wife hates it, but it’s my [modus operandi now. It’s just a thing I do every curling season, then get rid of it in the off-season.’
On Friday, the First Daughter was pictured, in a Team USA hat and red snowsuit, cheering and smiling as she watched snowboarders vying for medals at the men’s Big Air competition at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
But Ivanka ensured she kept on message when it came to politics and during an earlier dinner with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, she pledged to maintain her father’s ‘maximum-pressure campaign’ to push for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
She was joined in the stands by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Kim Jung-sook, International Olympic Committee member and 1998 ice hockey gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, as well as a rather gloomy looking White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The trio watched as Team USA’s Kyle Mack landed himself an Olympic silver medal in the men’s snowboard big air, with some impressive stunts and twisting leap called the ‘Bloody Dracula’. Gold went to Canada’s Sebastien Toutant and bronze to Britain’s Billy Morgan.
Ivanka, who will lead the U.S. delegation at the closing ceremony Sunday, was later seen posing for selfies and chatting with Kim Jung-suk.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and 1998 gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, Ivanka Trump and South Korea’s first lady Kim Jung-sook look amused as they watch the Men’s Snowboard Big Air finals at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre
Gold medal winner Sebastien Toutant, of Canada, is flanked by silver medal winner Kyle Mack, of the United States, left, and bronze medal winner Billy Morgan, of Great Britain
Ivanka and Kim Jung-sook appeared to be having a good time together at the games, laughing and joking
Ivanka Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday night at the presidential office in Seoul, ahead of a weekend that will be spent cheering on Team USA at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang
The first daughter made a stunning appearance in Seoul, where she attended a dinner with Moon, weeks after Kim Jong-un sent his glamorous sister Kim Yo-jong to the opening ceremony, upstaging Vice President Mike Pence in the process
Moon said before the dinner that he planned to raise the issue of talks between North Korea and the United States with Ivanka
The South Korean president spoke at some length with Ivanka during the dinner
Ivanka sat next to the South Korean president during the dinner that followed her arrival on Friday
Ivanka looked pensive as Moon made a point over the course of the evening
Ivanka arrived in South Korea on Friday evening leading the US delegation that will attend the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics
The first daughter opted for a white and black hounds tooth coat, a white roll-neck jumper, matching skirt and heavy back boots as she climbed off the plane
The adviser is leading a delegation that includes White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (pictured left)
While Ivanka traveled to South Korea, her husband Jared Kushner remained at home in D.C. where he was pictured on his way to the office on Friday morning
Ivanka’s presence at the closing ceremony comes after Kim Jong Un sent his glamorous sister, Kim Yo Jong, to the opening of the games where she sat close to Mike Pence
Pence had brought a delegation of North Korean defectors and Fred Warmbier, father of Otto who died after being imprisoned by North Korea, to the games – but failed to shift the limelight from Kim