CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin are Olympic medalists.
The tandem, known affectionately as “Girl Cory” and “Boy Korey,” won silver in the mixed doubles curling event Tuesday, Feb. 10, after falling 6-5 to Sweden in the gold-medal match.
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games were the third to include mixed doubles curling, and Thiesse and Dropkin’s performance earned Team USA its first ever medal in the event.
‘It’s certainly bittersweet. We would have loved to have won the gold today, but it’s huge to be on that podium,’ Thiesse said. ‘… the whole goal of this team was to make it to the Olympics, and we made it here, and we’re going home with a medal. We just can’t ask for much more.’
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With the Americans in second, and the Swedes in first, the Italians rounded out the podium defeating Great Britain 5-3 in the bronze-medal game, which was also played Tuesday.
Thiesse and Dropkin defeated Sweden 8-7 in round-robin play to clinch a spot in the semifinals. After dropping their last match of round-robin play to Italy 7-6 Monday morning, they bested the home team 9-8 for a shot at gold. In falling to Sweden Tuesday, Thiesse and Dropkin finished with a 7-4 overall record.
Their bus was caught in heavy traffic on the way to the game. Thiesse and Dropkin could see Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium from the logjam and asked the driver if they could just get out and walk. ‘Luckily he let us,’ Thiesse said. She was adamant that the unplanned stroll had no impact on the gold medal game and gave a shoutout to sports psychologist Carly Anderson for helping the team ‘expect the unexpected’ this week in the Dolomites.
In the gold-medal match, Team USA won the first and third ends 1-0, but a 2-0 Sweden advantage in the second set gave sibling duo Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa the 3-2 edge after four ends. Isabella had a 97% shot success rate heading the break.
A perfectly placed yellow stone in the fifth end pulled Thiesse and Dropkin even 3-3 with the Wranaas and prompted ‘USA’ chants from the mostly American crowd. As 20 or so full-sized American flags billowed in the stands, Dropkin pumped his arms for more.
‘We love them, and we loved having them here cheering us on,’ Dropkin said. ‘Because, who knows what would have happened without them? It helped energize me and helped energize us, and it just added to how surreal the environment out there was. Everyone who came out to support their their team, not just from the U.S., but Team Sweden, the Italians that were out there, the Swiss, the Great British folks. I mean, it was an amazing atmosphere. And it adds to just the moment and how special this whole week has been.’
Team USA took a 5-4 lead into the eighth end after getting two on the board in the seventh. The Americans weren’t as accurate as the Swedes, putting together a shot success percentage of 73% to their 83%. But the margin was much closer in take-outs, with a 70% shot success metric for the U.S. and 72% for Sweden.
Thiesse and Dropkin’s second-to-last stone of the eighth end had too much power behind it, sliding past the button. Which meant their last stone had to be perfect. It did knock the Swedes’ red stone off the middle, but they had the final stone of the game.
Their silver medal is a culmination of two lifetimes on the ice. Thiesse, 31, and Dropkin, 30, came up in the sport together, at first succeeding separately. Each won their first junior national title in 2012 and their first senior national title nine years later.
In April of 2022, Dropkin asked Thiesse for a drink at Pickwick Restaurant & Pub in Duluth, Minnesota. The establishment, owned by two national champion curlers Tim and Amy Wright, is where Dropkin asked Thiesse to be his doubles partner. A year later, they became the first U.S. mixed doubles pair to win a world championship.
Now, they’re Olympic medalists.
Where will the mercury-testing lab technician and realtor keep their new hardware?
‘That’s a great question, I have not thought about yet,’ Thiesse said.
‘Right now,’ Dropkin chimed in, ‘it’s around my neck. And it’s gonna stay there for a little while.’
Thiesse agreed: ‘Might sleep with it for a little while.’
Reach USA TODAY Network sports reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.