Duluth curling team claims silver medal at Winter Olympics
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Duluth curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin claimed silver medals at the Winter Olympics in Italy on Tuesday, falling to the Swedish team 6-5 in the gold-medal game for the mixed doubles event.
While the Americans were hoping for gold — it’s still the first time the U.S. has earned a medal in mixed doubles curling. And Thiesse is the first U.S. woman to medal in curling at the Olympics.
“It’s been a long time coming, and this is a really big day for USA Curling and for women’s curling in the U.S. I hope that I can bring this medal home and inspire the next generation of women to be up on that podium someday,” Thiesse said.
“It’s been a dream since I was so young, and I’m just so happy to be able to share it with Cory,” Dropkin said of their experience at these Olympics. “We’re gonna go celebrate.”
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Tuesday’s final was a see-saw match throughout. Thiesse and Dropkin led 5-4 entering the eighth and final end, before Sweden’s brother-and-sister team of Isabella and Rasmus Wranå scored two points for the win.
Isabella threw the winning stone and hunched close to the ice, watching her brother sweep until their red stone knocked out the Americans' yellow rock for the victory.
“It’s a perfect shot for me to have, a takeout,” Isabella Wranå said. “But of course you’re nervous. It’s the last shot and you know if you make it, it’s an Olympic gold. But I felt like we kept the calm. We talked about how we’re going to throw it and I knew that I had a really strong sweeper.”
Watch parties in Minnesota
Fans gathered to watch Tuesday’s game at the Duluth Curling Club, where Thiesse and Dropkin train.
Speaking ahead of the game, Kerry Hadiaris, the manager of Duluth Curling Club, said that although 50 members of the club went to Milan-Cortina to cheer the duo on — she and the rest of the club would be doing the same from Minnesota.
There also was a gathering of friends and fans watching the match at the St. Paul Curling Club, where Dropkin’s mother plays in a league.
Lisa Rudolph is in that league, and came to watch with her teammates.
“It’s the best Olympic experience I’ve had yet just because I know so many of them, and to be able to watch people curl on this big stage that I see around clubs, and had the opportunity to play with and against, is really exciting,” she said.
Lisa Johnson was also in the crowd at the St. Paul Curling Club; she’s a longtime curler who has known Dropkin and Thiesse for years.
“Being able to cheer for people that you’ve known for a lifetime and watch them seeing their dreams come true — that’s really cool,” she said. She also welcomed the increased attention on curling during the Olympics, and how it helps grow the sport.
Close game
The championship game was agonizingly close, with the Swedes pouncing on an opening left by the Americans in the last end.
The Wranå siblings grew up as rivals and were coached by their father, Mats Wranå. They’re Sweden’s first sibling team at the Olympics.
Throughout the match, the Wranås enjoyed a somewhat silent camaraderie with their small contingent of fans. The two remained stoic while Dropkin played to the crowd, whipping up the loud American supporters.
The Wranås won the world title in 2024. Dropkin and Thiesse won at worlds a year earlier.
The Swedish duo started their Olympic bid on stumbly legs, losing three games in a row in the round robin. The skid prompted the Swedish media to label their Olympic bid a “Curlingfiasko.”
But they soon managed to turn it around, winning most of their remaining matches.
It was a heartbreaker for the Americans, who enjoyed roaring support. An American curler screamed from the rafters, “Show me your biceps!” Dropkin obliged.
Dropkin and Thiesse are based in Duluth, and have full-time jobs. Thiesse is a lab technician and Dropkin a real estate agent. Dropkin is engaged and Thiesse is married.
They were classmates in college. Dropkin asked Thiesse to be his mixed doubles partner after a failed qualification run for the Beijing 2022 Games. She agreed — and they were world champions a year later.
Listen to a conversation before the match on Morning Edition with with Kerry Hadiaris, the manager of Duluth Curling Club, using the audio player below.
