THIESSE/DROPKIN TOP ITALY, ADVANCE TO GOLD MEDAL GAME
Photo by: World Curling
[EDEN PRAIRIE, MN, February 9, 2026] — Cory Thiesse (Duluth, MN) and Korey Dropkin (Southborough, MA) continue their impressive run at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, defeating the 2022 gold medalists from Italy in the semi-final. With that win, they advance to play for gold at 12 PM ET on Tuesday, February 10th.
From an initial field of ten in Cortina, four teams advanced to the semi-finals. All four teams that reached the playoff round have won world championships over the last four years—Thiesse and Dropkin were World Mixed Doubles Champions in 2023.
In the semi-final before a full house with plenty of support for the Italian side, Thiesse/Dropkin fell behind at the outset, as the team of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner opened with two points in the first end. But the Americans responded with their own score of two in the second end. They continued to apply pressure throughout the middle ends, and scored a critcial three points in the fourth end. After grabbing two in the sixth, Thiesse/Dropkin played the seventh end ahead 7-5.
The Italians, however, battled back, and used their Power Play to score three in the seventh end to take an 8-7 lead into the final end.
Thiesse/Dropkin, however, still had their own Power Play to use. With his final stone in the eighth end, Dropkin made a great shot to create the opportunity to score two. When Constantini failed to execute perfectly with her last stone, Thiesse was left with a shot for the win. She played it perfectly, removing the Italian shot stone and rolling far enough to bump another Italy rock far enough to count two, making the final score 8-7 in favor of the United States.
Thiesse/Dropkin will move on to face Sweden (Isabella Wrana, Rasmus Wrana) in the gold medal game at 12 PM ET in the United States. The Swedes defeated Great Britain, who finished round-robin play in first place, in the other semi-final matchup.
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About USA Curling
Founded in 1958 and headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA Curling is the National Governing body for the Olympic sport of curling and the Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling in the United States. The mission of USA Curling is to grow, strengthen, and advocate for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of curling in the United States by prioritizing accessibility and programmatic development from grassroots to podium. USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, the Dale’s family of beers, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Ice, Sports & Solar (ISS), Rock Solid Productions, Jet Ice, and Laurie Artiss. USA Curling is a proud member of World Curling and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. To learn more, visit usacurling.org.
