The U.S mixed doubles curling pair of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin will compete for a medal after winning their two round-robin matches on Sunday and advancing to the tournament semifinals for the first time in team history.

In the first, they defeated Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill, 5-3. That put Team USA in position to clinch a trip to the playoff round, finishing among the top four teams in the field. But the duo still needed to either defeat Sweden on Sunday or Italy on Monday.

Facing Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa in Sunday’s second match, the U.S. fell into an early hole, losing the first end 3-0. Thiesse and Dropkin tied the match by taking the second end 3-0, but Sweden went back on top with a 1-0 win in the third end.

Team USA gained the edge in the next two ends by a combined 4-0 advantage, presenting Sweden with a considerable uphill climb for the remaining three frames. However, the Wranaa duo rallied in the sixth and seventh ends with a combined 3-0 score to even the match at 7-7 going into the final frame.

In that eighth end, Dropkin executed a double takeout that clinched the frame and the match for him and Thiesse, making them the first U.S. team to play in the Olympics’ mixed doubles curling semifinals.

Korey Dropkin celebrates Team USA’s win with Cory Thiesse over Sweden to advanced to the semifinals in the mixed doubles curling competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

With their two wins, the U.S. has a 6-2 record in the round-robin portion of the tournament, second behind Great Britain’s 8-1 mark. Italy (5-3) and Sweden (5-4) are the other two teams advancing to the medal round.

Great Britain came into Sunday’s session already clinching a trip to the playoffs with its 7-1 record, but added another win over Norway.

Thiesse and Dropkin brought a 4-0 record into Saturday’s play, yet were defeated by Great Britain and suffered an upset loss to South Korea. As a result, the U.S. needed two more wins to advance.

However, the U.S. fell behind Estonia early after losing the first end 1-0. They evened the match by prevailing 1-0 in the second end. That began a back-and-forth exchange which left Team USA at a 3-2 disadvantage going into the sixth end.

That sixth frame turned out to be the crucial one for Team USA. Thiesse had an opportunity to get three points, but her stone hit a guard and stopped just short of the house. That meant the U.S. would only finish the end with one point to tie the match at 3.

But Thiesse and Dropkin finished their late surge by winning the next two sets. In the seventh, the U.S. prevailed when Kaldvee’s throw attempting to knock a stone out of the way sailed wide. And in the eighth, Team USA placed a stone just at the top of the button. Kaldvee tried again to knock the rock away, but her throw didn’t push it far enough.

Team USA’s final match of the round-robin session will be Monday versus Italy at 4:05 a.m. ET, but its place in the semifinals is already set. The medal round will begin later Monday at 12:05 p.m. ET with the matchups to be determined by final draw.

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