Duluth Curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin Capture Historic Olympic Silver in Cortina

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy

 On the ice beneath the Dolomites, two curlers with deep Minnesota roots carved their names into Olympic history.

Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin of Duluth delivered a breakthrough performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics, winning the silver medal in mixed doubles curling after a tense, precision-driven final that came down to the last stone.

Their podium finish marks the first Olympic medal ever for the United States in mixed doubles curling and places Thiesse in the record books as the first American woman to win an Olympic curling medal.

A rivalry forged and settled on Italian ice

The Americans’ path to the final was shaped by a dramatic, back-to-back showdown with the host nation.

In their final round-robin match, Thiesse and Dropkin fell 7–6 to Italy’s decorated pairing of Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini, the reigning Olympic champions from Beijing. The loss dropped the Americans into a semifinal rematch that would define their Games.

Hours later, with the stakes raised and the margins razor thin, Team USA flipped the script. Thiesse and Dropkin edged Italy 9–8 in a semifinal that blended patience, tactical aggression, and late-end execution. The win not only eliminated the defending champions but sent the home crowd into stunned silence as the Americans advanced to the gold medal game.

A final decided by inches

The championship match on Tuesday, February 10, paired the Americans against Sweden’s sibling duo, Isabella Wranå and Rasmus Wranå, in a contest that never drifted far from even.

Through seven ends, the teams traded points and momentum. The United States seized a crucial advantage late, scoring two in the seventh end to take a 5–4 lead and position itself within reach of gold.

But curling’s unforgiving geometry had one final twist.

With the hammer in the eighth end, Sweden needed precision under pressure. Isabella Wranå delivered a flawless final takeout, removing the American stone that sat poised to score. Sweden counted two, turning a one-point deficit into a 6–5 victory and Olympic gold.

The Americans, stone-still at the far end of the sheet, were left with silver and history.

A medal that reshapes U.S. curling history

Before Cortina, the United States’ Olympic curling medal tally was sparse: a men’s bronze in 2006 and a men’s gold in 2018. Thiesse and Dropkin’s silver becomes just the third Olympic curling medal in U.S. history, and the first achieved in mixed doubles since the discipline’s Olympic debut in 2018.

From Duluth to the Olympic podium

Both athletes are prominent members of the Duluth Curling Club, a program long regarded as one of Minnesota’s quiet incubators of elite talent. Their Olympic run elevated not only their own careers but also the profile of mixed doubles curling in the United States.

While the mixed doubles competition has concluded, Thiesse’s Olympic journey continues. She remains slated to compete with the U.S. women’s curling team, extending a Games that has already redefined what is possible for American curling on the world’s biggest stage.

Silver, in Cortina, arrived with the weight of gold.

MinneapoliMedia