Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin leave Cortina with a long list of history they’ve made during the mixed doubles curling competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

After winning the silver medal on Tuesday, the Americans spoke with reporters about the gold medal match against Sweden, the history they made, and the family, friends, and fans who helped them over the last week. Here’s more of what they had to say.

The Americans fell to Sweden, 6-5, after Sweden’s Isabella Wrana took out the United States' only stone to give her team two points and the win in the final end.

It’s the first mixed doubles Olympic gold medal for Isabella and her brother, Rasmus Wrana.

“It was a great game. Two really good teams, very back and forth,” Thiesse said. “We just needed to be a little bit sharper than we were today, but we're not going to let that game take away from the week that we had. We're so proud of the way that we played this week and battled in that last game. They're a great team and props to them. We're very excited to be walking away with the silver medal, for sure.”

“Rasmus and Isabella are great, great curlers. They deserve this,” Dropkin added. “They played amazing. I didn't quite show up as sharp as I needed to, as we needed to. That's why they came away with the win. But we had an amazing week. We're on the podium. We're Olympic silver medalists. We have a lot to smile about. There's tears of joy and a little bit of sadness, but lots of joy and it’s just a blessing this week has been.”

Even though the Americans didn’t win their last game, just getting to the Olympic finals was ultimately more than they ever could have imagined in their wildest dreams.

“I'm still pretty speechless,” Thiesse said. “When Korey and I were walking out there I said, ‘Can you imagine at the beginning of the year if we said we were going to be silver medalist at the Olympic Games this year, we'd be pretty happy with that.’”

About an hour before the gold medal game, Dropkin posted a photo on social media of himself as a young child holding a curling broom. He thought about what that little Dropkin would think of his Olympic hardware.

“He'd be speechless. He’d be so proud,” Dropkin said. “Big eyes, probably some tears of joy, and some wildness, for sure. That kid had a lot of energy, a lot of passion, just like me now. That's the kid I do it for. It's been a dream since I was so young, and I'm just so happy to be able to share it with Cory.”

Throughout the week, U.S. fans made the curling arena in Cortina loud with cheers for Thiesse and Dropkin. The two curlers felt the love both in the stadium and from friends, family, and fans back home in Duluth, Minnesota.

“All week so many people were showing up for us, cheering us on, seeing so many flags up in the stands,” Thiesse said. “This is the pinnacle of our sport and to be able to showcase it and play as well as we did in front of our friends and family who have gotten us to this point, and to be able to celebrate with them tonight on the week that we had, it means everything to us because we did not get here alone. We had so many people helping us along the way, and I’m just really excited to celebrate that with everybody.

“We love everybody back home that was cheering us on all week. We knew that there's lots of love behind us, and we’re really excited to celebrate this week with everybody when we get home. Love you all.”

“This week’s been a dream,” Dropkin said. “Just had a blast playing with Korey, (coaches) Cathy (Overton Clapham) and Phill (Drobnick) and all of our supporters here. Having the family and all our friends in the stands has meant the world.

“It’s just been a special week that we've been able to share with so many people. Thank you to everyone back home watching all around the U.S., around the world, tuning in, cheering on us, your favorite team, and your favorite athletes throughout the Olympics. This is what it's all about. Hopefully we were able to touch some young kids out there to start doing big and believe in themselves. It all starts by believing in yourselves. I'm so proud of us.

“Thanks so much for supporting us, getting up at early hours to watch us in the mornings. All the little kids back home — work hard, dream big. Just do what you love to do and go big. Thank you so much. We love you all back home. Thank you so much for following us. The journey is not done, but thank you. 

Just by reaching the tournament’s finale, Thiesse became the first American woman to ever win an Olympic curling medal. Also, she and Dropkin are the first Americans to win an Olympic medal in mixed doubles curling, and just the third U.S. curling team in any discipline to do so.

“It's been a long time coming,” Thiesse said. “It's a big day for USA curling. Being on the podium is huge. It’s a big day for women's curling in the United States, and I'm just really proud and honored to be standing up there and to kind of use this to move women's curling in the U.S. forward and do what we can as players and mentors to hopefully see more women up on that podium someday from the United States. So I’m just really proud and honored to be standing up there today. 

“I know the role that I play as a leader in women's curling in the United States, and I'm going to do everything I can as a player and as a mentor to other girls. I know that there's going to be more women from the U.S. standing up on that podium someday. I’m just really, really proud and excited to continue to share the knowledge that we have to help the next generation. 

“It's been an amazing week. It's been a dream come true being able to play with Cory at the Olympics, with the best coaches and in front of our family and friends,” Dropkin said. “Plenty of times we've gotten emotional because it's been so much. It's been a whirlwind of a week and just means the world to be here.”

The medal comes exactly 20 years after the U.S. men’s won the country’s first Olympic curling medal, a bronze they also won in Italy. Watching that team was pivotal to young Dropkin and Thiesse. Dropkin called their silver on that team’s 20th anniversary “a full circle moment”

“To be able to represent the United States and to be playing for medals — obviously would have loved to come home with the gold medal, but Sweden earned that and we earned this silver medal. My gosh, I'm just so darn proud of us, so it's a dream come true.

“It's been an amazing week. We love curling together and we're very passionate about the sport, and I think we shared all that with everybody out there - how much we enjoy the sport and being out there together and just making lots of shots and playing our hearts out. I’m just so proud of us. I've got the best team and we've got the best coaches."

Thiesse’s time in Cortina isn’t over. She’ll compete as a member of the U.S. women’s curling team starting on Thursday. 

“I knew going into this this was going to be the busiest month of my life,” she said. “We're going to take some time to celebrate this tonight and celebrate the week that we had. I'm going to take a little time to sleep in tomorrow, get a massage, maybe do a little bit of media stuff, and then get back to it with the girls. I know how important of a role I play on that team, and it's really important for me to just be able to bounce back and be out there 100% for my girls and chase after another medal next week.”