US reaches first Olympic curling mixed doubles final, will face Swedish siblings for gold
United States’ Korey Dropkin, left, and United States’ Cory Thiesse react following the semi-finals round of the mixed doubles curling match against Italy, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse guaranteed the U.S. its first Olympic medal in mixed doubles curling, reaching the final Monday with a 9-8 victory over Italy.
Dropkin, of Massachusetts, and Thiesse, who is from Minnesota, whooped and hollered after edging the hosts, hugging tightly.
The Americans will play Swedish siblings Isabella and Rasmus Wrana, who upset the British duo of Jennifer Dodds and Brett Mouat 9-3 in the other semifinal.
Dodds and Mouat, best friends who grew up curling together, entered the field as favorites and were widely expected to be in the final.
Sweden’s brother-and-sister team are curling together after growing up as rivals. Sweden won bronze in mixed doubles in 2022
In a curling match, two teams compete to see which can get the most granite stones closest to a bullseye target called the tee by sliding them along a narrow sheet of ice.
The distance between where a player must release the stone and the tee at the other end is about 93 feet (28 meters).
The sheet is only 5 meters (16.4 feet) wide and both teams’ stones accumulate every round, so it gets crowded.
Each round, for up to 10 rounds, teams have eight chances to slide the specialized 44-pound (20 kg) stones toward the tee. They can aim directly for the center, try to knock their opponents’ stones away or nudge their own stones closer to the target. Strategies include blocking and take-outs.
