USA and Italy Battle in Olympic Mixed Doubles Curling Semifinal After Round-Robin Rematch

The United States mixed doubles curling team of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin experienced a dramatic day at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Monday, February 9, facing Italy twice in a span of eight hours. The Americans fell 7-6 to Italy's Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner in their final round-robin match at 4:05 a.m. ET, only to face the same opponents again in the semifinals at 12:05 p.m. ET in a high-stakes rematch with a medal on the line. The morning round-robin encounter was a tightly contested affair that came down to the final stones. Italy, playing on home soil with enthusiastic crowd support, managed to edge out the Americans by a single point in a back-and-forth battle. Constantini and Mosaner, who won gold in mixed doubles at Beijing 2022, demonstrated their championship pedigree with precise shot-making in the crucial final ends. The loss meant both teams finished with identical records, setting up their immediate rematch in the playoff rounds. Thiesse and Dropkin made history as the first U.S. mixed doubles curling team to advance to the Olympic semifinals, a significant achievement for American curling. Their path to the medal rounds included victories over traditional powerhouses like Sweden and Estonia, showcasing the growing depth of curling talent in the United States. Dropkin, a veteran of multiple Olympic cycles, provided steady leadership while Thiesse brought exceptional precision with her draw shots throughout the tournament. The semifinal matchup represented a rare scenario in Olympic competition where teams face each other twice on the same day. The quick turnaround left little time for adjustments, placing a premium on mental resilience and the ability to execute under pressure. The winner would advance to the gold medal game, while the loser would compete for bronze—making the stakes incredibly high for both nations. Great Britain, which dominated the round-robin stage with an 8-1 record, faced Sweden in the other semifinal. The British duo of Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat entered as heavy favorites after posting the tournament's best record, while Sweden secured the fourth and final playoff spot with a dramatic 7-6 victory over Canada in their final round-robin match. The mixed doubles curling competition has provided some of the most dramatic moments of the Milano Cortina Games, with razor-thin margins separating the medal contenders.