Sweden delivered a dramatic finish in the mixed doubles curling gold medal game at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, defeating the United States 6–5 on the final stone Thursday to capture its first Olympic mixed doubles medal — and make history in the process.
With the match hanging in the balance in the eighth end, the United States sat shot rock alone on the four-foot with one Swedish stone remaining. Sweden’s Isabella Wrana, who had been nearly flawless throughout the game — shooting 96 percent on draw shots and a perfect 100 percent on takeouts — stepped into the hack with confidence. The 28-year-old executed a precise takeout, pushing the American stone out of the house to score two points and seal the victory for Sweden.
The win avenged Sweden’s round-robin loss to Team USA just two days earlier and capped an emotional Olympic tournament for both teams.
Despite the narrow defeat, the American duo of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin leaves Cortina with a historic silver medal performance. By reaching the final, Thiesse became the first American woman to win an Olympic curling medal. Together, Thiesse and Dropkin became the first Americans to medal in Olympic mixed doubles curling and just the third U.S. curling team in any discipline to earn an Olympic medal.
Sweden’s gold medal run was equally historic. Siblings Isabella and Rasmus Wrana became the first brother-and-sister pair to win Olympic gold together. Their victory marked Sweden’s 11th all-time Olympic curling medal and extended the country’s streak to six consecutive Winter Games with at least one curling medal — the longest such streak by any nation. Sweden had never previously medaled in mixed doubles curling.
The tournament was a roller coaster for the Swedish team. During round-robin play, they were shut out 9–0 by Norway, becoming the first mixed doubles team to fail to score in an Olympic game. They rebounded immediately with a record-setting 13–7 victory over Switzerland, the highest-scoring Olympic mixed doubles game ever.
The gold medal match itself was tightly contested from the start. The United States struck first in the opening end when Thiesse executed a run-back to place a stone on the button for one point. Sweden responded in the second end, as Isabella Wrana’s hammer draw slipped through American guards for two points and the early lead.
The teams traded single points through the middle ends. The Americans evened the score at 2–2 in the third despite a runback attempt from Thiesse that over-curled. Sweden regained a 3–2 edge at the halfway break, but the U.S. answered again in the fifth to tie the match.
In the sixth end, Thiesse drew to the button, but Sweden managed to limit the damage to a single point. Late in the match, Isabella Wrana delivered two clutch takeouts in the seventh end to prevent a potential American scoring surge. Thiesse responded with a takeout of her own to secure two points and give the United States a 5–4 lead heading into the final end.
That set the stage for Sweden’s decisive finish.
Thiesse and Dropkin shot a combined 83 percent in the match, with Dropkin recording a game-best 12 takeouts. While the loss was heartbreaking, the silver medal represents a milestone moment for American curling.
Thiesse’s Olympic journey in Cortina continues. She is set to compete with the U.S. women’s curling team later in the Games, carrying momentum from a historic mixed doubles performance onto the Olympic ice once again.
