Sweden and United States of America to play for gold at Olympic Winter Games

United States of America beat Italy by 9-8 in their mixed doubles semi-final to bring the Italians’ chances of retaining their Olympic title to an end.

Meanwhile, Sweden were 9-3 winners over Great Britain in the other semi-final.

United States of America and Sweden will battle for gold on Tuesday evening, while Great Britain and Italy will play for bronze in the morning.

Korey Dropkin, United States of America © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Against the Americans, Italy opened with a score of two points when Stefania Constantini played a tap-out.The Americans levelled in the second when Cory Thiesse was able to draw for two points.

In the third end, Constantini produced a crowd-pleasing precise draw to the button to score two more and take a 4-2 lead. However, Cory Thiesse did even better in the fourth end, scoring three with her own perfectly-weighted draw, to give her team a 5-4 lead at the break.

Italy scored one in the fifth to level the game at 5-5 but, in the sixth, Thiesse scored another two points, this time with a tap-back, to take a 7-5 lead.

Cory Thiesse, United States of America © World Curling / Celine Stucki

Italy called a Power Play in the seventh end, and a nose-hit by Constantini gave them a score of three points and an 8-7 lead.

The eighth end came down to a final take-out by Thiesse, who managed to score two points, win the game by 9-8, and claim their place in the final.

Afterwards, Thiesse said, “It’s crazy — it’s just a dream week. Coming into this, the field was incredibly deep and we had no idea how far this was going to go. I’m so proud of us on what we’ve been able to do this week and put ourselves into the gold medal final. It’s a dream come true!”

Her partner Korey Dropkin added, “You need to stay focussed and calm out there. You’ve got to be composed in those big moments.” And acknowledging his energetic style, he said, “I’ve been feeding off the crowd.”

Korey and Cory celebrate their semi-final win © World Curling / Celine Stucki

Meanwhile the United States of America National Coach Phill Drobnick said, “They were awesome tonight. Our word for today was to be the best version of ourselves and they did that and I’m so proud of them.”

Meanwhile a disappointed Amos Mosaner of the Italian team said, “That was frustrating. We didn’t play as smart as they did. They took advantage in two ends and in the end, you can understand it.”

In the other semi-final between Great Britain and Sweden, it was the British duo who took the early lead when Jennifer Dodds opened the first end with a nose-hit for one point.

Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds, Great Britain © World Curling / Celine Stucki

In the second, Sweden’s Isabella Wranaa had a draw to score two points for a 2-1 lead and then in the third, Dodds’s take-out attempt saw her stone roll too far, to give Sweden a steal of one and a 3-1 lead. In the fourth end, a tap-up attempt by Dodds only produced one point, and Sweden took a 3-2 lead into the break.

Great Britain then stole a single in the fifth to level the score at 3-3 when Isabella Wranaa’s draw was not strong enough.

Sweden called a Power Play in the sixth and were rewarded. Dodds’s final draw was heavy and slid through, giving Sweden a draw for a game-changing score of five and an 8-3 lead.

A further steal of one point by Sweden in the seventh end for a 9-3 scoreline was enough to make the British pair concede.

Isabella Wranaa, Sweden © World Curling / Celine Stucki

After this victory, Sweden’s Rasmus Wranaa said, “That was an amazing game. We definitely played our best game of the week. We kept such a good focus.

“We knew we had to play our best to have a chance to beat Great Britain because they are so good, so I’m proud of us.”

Looking forward to the gold medal game, he added, “We’re going to have to do exactly the same thing as we did today. We’re going to have to play as well as we did today or even better to get the chance for the win tomorrow.”

Meanwhile his sister Isabella recalled that they had lost three games in a row earlier in the week, “In mixed doubles anything can happen, and I’m so proud of how we came back from losing three in a row earlier. Now we’re in the final — how great our team has been at holding it together.”

The Wranaa siblings celebrate their win © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

For their part, the British duo were naturally subdued. Jennifer Dodds said, “We’re gutted. We just didn’t play as well as we have all week. That five put us on the back foot.”

Bruce Mouat said, “Obviously we’re disappointed, but we’ve still got a chance for a medal, so we’re going to try for that.”

Follow the live scores from mixed doubles curling at Milano Cortina 2026 here.

Find the full mixed doubles schedule and results here.

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