DC Barista Wins Olympic Bronze in Sochi

A barista at a District coffee shop will come home from Sochi, Russia soon with a bronze medal around her neck, though she did not win it for Team USA. Jessica Lutz, who works at The Coffee Bar near Logan Circle, plays for the Swiss women’s ice hockey team, and scored a critical goal today in Switzerland’s 4-3 victory over Sweden in the bronze-medal game. (The United States and Canada play for the gold this afternoon.)

Sweden led 2-0 after two periods, but Switzerland climbed back, with Lutz scoring the go-ahead goal nearly 14 minutes into the final period. It was her second goal of the Sochi games. The teams both added one more goal after the Swedes pulled their goalie.

Lutz, 24, grew up in Rockville, but gets her Swiss citizenship through her father, Ernst, who immigrated to the Washington area about 30 years ago. She had to spend a few years living in the landlocked European nation for a few years to become eligible to play for its national team, but had a much better shot of making that squad than the US team, which is consistently one of the top two in the world.

But even nabbing third place is still a big deal for Switzerland, which hadn’t won a medal in men’s or women’s ice hockey since 1948. Her employer back in DC is also pretty excited.

OMG JESSICA GOT THE BRONZE MEDAL!! Go Jess and Swiss Women’s ice hockey!!! http://t.co/nWoC4ZiAnn

— The Coffee Bar (@thecoffeebardc) February 20, 2014

Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.