For more than two decades, Korey Dropkin has been chasing one moment.
On Olympic ice in Milan Cortina, that pursuit is now one game away from gold.
Born June 11, 1995, in Southborough, Massachusetts, Dropkin first stepped onto curling ice at age five at Broomstones Curling Club.
What began as a childhood curiosity became a life shaped by repetition, travel, disappointment and persistence. By his teens, he was already competing internationally, winning three United States Junior Curling Championships and representing Team USA at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, where he earned a bronze medal in mixed doubles.
That early success did not shorten the road. It lengthened it.
Dropkin continued climbing through the sport’s demanding ladder: World Junior Championships, World Curling Tour events, U.S. national titles and world championships across both men’s and mixed doubles disciplines. He moved to Minnesota in 2013 to pursue elite competition full time, eventually becoming a fixture at the Duluth Curling Club while earning a degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Along the way, he balanced curling with work as a licensed realtor in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The résumé grew steadily. A U.S. men’s national championship. A silver medal at Olympic Trials. World Championship appearances. Then, in 2023, a breakthrough that reset expectations: Dropkin captured gold at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, the first world title in the event for the United States.
But even that was not the finish line.
A partnership with purpose
In 2022, Dropkin made a deliberate choice. Over dinner at Pickwick in Duluth, he asked Cory Thiesse to become his mixed doubles partner. The setting was ordinary. The implications were not.
The pairing clicked quickly. Within a year, they won the U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship and then the world title in 2023. After narrowly missing another national title in 2024, their silver-medal finish earned them a spot at the 2025 U.S. Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials, where they dominated the field and secured their Olympic berth. A fifth-place finish at the 2025 World Championship provided the final qualification points, officially sending them to the 2026 Winter Games.
History made in Milan Cortina
At the Olympics, Dropkin and Thiesse have already rewritten American curling history.
On Sunday, they became the first U.S. team ever to reach an Olympic semifinal in mixed doubles. On Monday, they went further, defeating Italy 9–8 in a dramatic semifinal rematch after earlier falling to the same team in round-robin play. Two points in the final end sealed the comeback and guaranteed the United States its first Olympic medal in the event.
The win also ensured that Thiesse will become the first American woman to win an Olympic curling medal.
“It took everything we had,” Dropkin said afterward, describing an electric arena filled with Italian and American supporters. Facing the reigning Olympic and world champions, he called the victory gritty, earned and emotional.
Thiesse delivered the final shot under pressure, trusting both her preparation and her partner. “I knew that Korey was going to put me in position,” she said. Earlier that day, Dropkin reflected on the partnership’s origins, recalling a quiet two-seat table that reminded him of Pickwick in 2022. “It was a little bit of a full circle moment,” he said.
One match left
Now, more than 20 years after a five-year-old first picked up a broom, Korey Dropkin is playing for Olympic gold. The United States will face Sweden in the mixed doubles gold medal match on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 11:05 a.m. CT. It will be broadcast live on USA Network
How to watch the USA Mixed Doubles Curling Gold Medal Match
Watch the USA mixed doubles curling gold medal match live on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at 12:05 p.m. ET (6:05 a.m. CT, 4:05 a.m. PT) on the USA Network or by streaming on Peacock. The final, featuring Team USA vs. Sweden, takes place at the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Ways to Watch Live (Tuesday, Feb 10):
- Live TV Channel: USA Network.
- Live Stream: Peacock (requires Premium plan for full coverage).
- Other Digital Options: NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com (with cable authentication).
- Replays: Scheduled on CNBC (6 p.m. ET) and USA Network (9 p.m. ET).
