The stage is set for an electrifying showdown at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, as the United States and Sweden prepare to battle for mixed doubles curling gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics. This afternoon’s final, scheduled for February 10, 2026, at 12:05 p.m. ET, promises drama, history, and a shot at redemption for both teams. For American duo Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse, the stakes could not be higher: a win would secure their place in the record books as the first U.S. curlers to medal at the Olympics since the men’s team’s golden run in 2018, and Thiesse would become the first American woman to ever stand on the Olympic curling podium.
Dropkin and Thiesse’s journey to the gold medal match has been nothing short of thrilling. Their semifinal against Italy, the defending Olympic champions, was a nail-biter from start to finish. The Americans found themselves trailing 8-7 heading into the eighth and final end, with the home crowd roaring for the Italian pair of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner. But pressure seems to bring out the best in Thiesse. With the game on the line, she delivered a precision takeout to score two points, sealing a 9-8 victory and sending the U.S. bench—and their fans—into wild celebration. As Thiesse later reflected, “I was definitely a little jittery before I threw it, but it’s a shot I’ve visualized in my head a million times. Just to be playing in this game and have a shot for the win like that, it’s a dream come true.” (The Athletic)
Dropkin, making his Olympic debut, is no stranger to high-stakes curling. Growing up in Massachusetts, he was immersed in the sport from a young age. “I grew up at the curling club,” he shared. “My parents were super involved with a junior program at our curling club. My brother was five years older. He was already curling. I followed in his footsteps. I was like his shadow.” (Article 3) Thiesse, meanwhile, has curling in her blood. Her mother, Linda Christensen, is a two-time U.S. senior national champion and a former world senior champion. Thiesse herself made her Olympic debut in 2018, finishing eighth with the women’s team, but this run has already guaranteed her a place in American curling history.
The Americans’ path to the final was anything but easy. They wrapped up the round robin portion of the tournament with a 6-3 record—good enough for third place. One of those six victories came against none other than their gold medal opponents, the Swedish sibling duo of Isabella and Rasmus Wranå. In that round robin clash, the U.S. edged Sweden 8-7, foreshadowing just how tight this final could be.
Sweden, for their part, have been on a giant-killing run of their own. The Wranå siblings pulled off a major upset in their semifinal, dismantling the top-seeded British pair of Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat 9-3. Great Britain had entered the semis with an imposing 8-1 record and were widely tipped to take gold, but the Swedes found their form at just the right moment. “Sometimes in mixed doubles it can be difficult,” Isabella Wranå said. “You can just be off by a few centimetres. But I’m very proud of how we came back into the tournament, and we’re looking forward to the final.” (The Athletic)
The semifinal between the U.S. and Italy was not without controversy. In the seventh end, television replays suggested Dropkin may have touched one of his stones with his foot—a so-called “burned stone” in curling parlance. However, the Italian skip Mosaner chose not to challenge the play, upholding the sport’s tradition of fair play. “We didn’t see it for sure,” Mosaner commented. “But in curling, it’s all about fair play, so we left it where it was, and it was OK.” (The Athletic) The drama only added to the intensity of an already pulsating match.
For those new to curling, the format is deceptively simple but packed with nuance. Each match consists of up to 10 ends, similar to innings in baseball. Teams alternate sliding 44-pound granite stones down a 93-foot-long, 5-meter-wide sheet of ice, aiming to position their stones closer to the center of a bullseye target than their opponents. Each end provides opportunities for strategic brilliance—blocking, take-outs, and precise placement all come into play. In mixed doubles, each team is made up of one man and one woman, making teamwork and communication absolutely critical.
Fans eager to catch every moment of the gold medal match have multiple viewing options. The game will be broadcast live on USA Network starting at 12:05 p.m. ET, before moving to NBC at approximately 12:50 p.m. ET. For those without cable, streaming options abound, including DIRECTV and Peacock, ensuring that the drama from Cortina d’Ampezzo reaches living rooms across the globe.
Betting markets have installed Team USA as the favorite, with odds of -215 (implied probability of 68.25%) to take home gold, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Sweden, meanwhile, are listed at +164, but if their semifinal performance is any indication, they are more than capable of spoiling the American party. The total points over/under for the match is set at 12.5, suggesting oddsmakers expect another high-scoring affair.
Regardless of the outcome, this match represents a watershed moment for American curling. Not since the men’s team’s surprise gold in 2018 has the U.S. had a shot at the top of the podium. For Thiesse, the chance to become the first American woman to win an Olympic curling medal is a personal milestone—and a sign of how far the sport has come in the United States. “It’s been a long time coming to have an American woman on the podium,” Thiesse said. “I’m just so proud of the week we’ve had.” (The Athletic)
On the other side, the Wranå siblings are keen to add Olympic gold to their impressive resumes. The 2024 world champions, they’ve shown resilience and precision throughout the tournament, and their semifinal demolition of Great Britain has put the rest of the curling world on notice. Rasmus Wranå, in particular, has been nearly flawless, and the chemistry between the siblings could prove decisive in the final.
Elsewhere in Cortina, Great Britain and Italy will face off for the bronze medal. The British duo of Dodds and Mouat, still smarting from their semifinal defeat, will be desperate to avoid a second consecutive fourth-place Olympic finish after falling to Sweden in the bronze match at Beijing 2022.
As the clock ticks down to the gold medal match, anticipation is reaching a fever pitch. Will Dropkin and Thiesse complete their improbable run with a historic gold, or will the Wranå siblings claim the top spot for Sweden? One thing’s for sure: curling fans are in for a treat, and history is about to be made at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.