Korey Dropkin, the male half of the U.S. mixed doubles curling team that beat host Italy, 9-8, in a tense semifinal match Monday night to reach the Olympic gold medal game, is giving off Pete Weber vibes here in Italy. Weber, the Hall of Fame bowler, went viral for his now-iconic 2012 outburst after rolling a strike to win the U.S. Open. “Who do you think you are?!! I am!!” Weber yelled as he pointed two thumbs at himself.
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Dropkin didn’t utter anything as ridiculous as that on Monday, but in a typically staid and polite sport like curling, he’s bringing some welcome energy to the Olympic proceedings. After teammate Cory Thiesse—you’re free to address them as Girl Cory and Boy Korey—delivered the game-winning shot in the eighth and final end, a sort of curling version of an inning, Dropkin pumped his fists, and waved his arms up to the crowd at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. “How do you like that!” he said to a group of supporters. Dropkin flexed an arm. (All that sweeping may have helped him develop some chisel). He slid down the sheet, spinning around several times to acknowledge the American fans.
Dropkin seemed to be relishing in this moment. Maybe even milking it.
“That’s me,” said Dropkin after the match. “It’s childhood Korey that always had fun. You know, got up, swept his own rocks, did some spins and twirls on the way back to the hack as he threw another stone. And I don’t want to lose that feeling. I don’t want to forget who I am in that moment.”
Who can blame him? The American pair will face Sweden in Tuesday’s Olympic final, giving the United States a chance at its second curling gold: the U.S. men’s squad took the top prize eight years ago in PyeongChang. Dropkin and Thiesse are also the first American mixed doubles team to reach a final since the event debuted in South Korea in 2018. Team USA’s semifinal victory over Italy guaranteed Dropkin and Thiesse at least a silver medal. So whatever happens in their next game, Thiesse will become the first American woman ever to win a curling medal.
“I know how important it was for me to have people to look up to when I was growing up,” says Thiesse. “So I just hope that I can be kind of an inspiration for young girls in curling, or in any sport in the U.S., to just dream big.”
Dropkin asked Thiesse to be his mixed partner in April of 2022: he thought she was the best shotmaker in the United States. And she lived up to that billing on Tuesday.
In mixed doubles curling, each team throws five stones in an end, and the team with the last shot in an end owns what’s known as the “hammer.” The hammer is a distinct advantage in the sport because players with last shot can curl their stones close to the button—the bullseye on the ice—to win points while at the same time clearing the opponents’ rock out of the circular scoring zone, or house.
Italy had an 8-7 lead going into the final end. But the U.S. had the hammer. When Thiesse lined up to take the last shot, an Italian stone was nearest to the button. Thiesse had a path to place her stone closer, which would have given the Americans a single point and forced a tie. Instead, she went for the win. Her stone not only knocked that would-be winning Italy rock out of play, but on the bounce it nudged another Italian rock slightly to the side, leaving two U.S. stones closest to the button. Two points, and a victory, for the U.S.
Thiesse had been wielding her hammer all night long. “She’s like Kobe Bryant, Caitlin Clark, just draining them,” says Dropkin. “She’s clutch. One word. Clutch. That’s my teammate.” Playing it safe, they said, never came up in conversation.
Girl Cory endorses Boy Korey’s theatrics. “We’re at our best when both of our personalities are coming out,” says Thiesse. “For me, it’s just kind of letting him do his thing and just doing my thing. And remaining calm and having this kind of quiet confidence about myself.”
“Typically, she reels me in a little bit,” says Dropkin. “She’s kind of just let me loose here.”
And it seems to be working in Cortina. Why stop now against Sweden?
“It’s really cool,” says Dropkin. “Thanks, Cor.”