Winter Olympics 2026: Team USA’s Cory Thiesse, Korey Dropkin take silver in dramatic curling final

Eight years after John Shuster’s upstarts shocked PyeongChang, Team USA had a chance to add a second gold medal in curling but ultimately settled for silver in mixed doubles.

In a tight, back-and-forth battle that went all the way to the final stone, the team of Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse lost to Sweden’s brother-sister team of Rasmus and Isabella Wranå 6-5 in Tuesday’s final.

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The Americans, who didn’t take advantage of multiple opportunities early in the match, were up against it in the seventh end when Thiesse completely missed the house with her first throw when the U.S. used its power play to set up a potential two-point end.

Down 4-3 and knowing Sweden had the hammer in the eighth and final end, it took a clutch throw by Dropkin to clear out Sweden’s threat on the Americans’ fourth stone. That completely flipped the situation and allowed Thiesse to convert for a 5-4 lead, putting the pressure back on Sweden.

But in the eighth end, the Americans’ fourth throw by Dropkin was a touch too firm, running all the way through the house without knocking any Swedish guards away. That tiny mistake was compounded when Thiesse’s fifth and final stone did not do enough to clear out the house and left the door open for Isabella Wranå to win it with a routine takeout.

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“Obviously would have loved to come home with a gold medal, but Sweden earned that,” Dropkin said. “I’m so darn proud of us.”

After finishing third in the round-robin standings with a 6-3 record, the Americans edged Italy 9-8 in the semifinals to secure a medal. But they were thrust into the unexpected role as favorites when Sweden shocked the powerhouse British team in the other semi. They simply did not play their best in the final and had to settle for silver.

Still, it’s just the third Olympic medal for a U.S. curling team, joining the men’s bronze in 2006 and Team Shuster’s stunning gold medal run in 2018. Thiesse becomes the first American woman to get a curling medal.

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“It’s been a long time coming,” she said. “I’m really proud and honored to be standing up there and to use this to move women’s curling in the U.S. forward and do what we can as players and as mentors to hopefully see more women from the United States up on that podium some day.”