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Korey Dropkin
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For Korey Dropkin, the 2006 Winter Olympics changed his life.
“I remember watching the [U.S. curling team] having the bronze medal hung around their necks," he recalled to PEOPLE ahead of his trip to the Milan 2026 Olympics. "I was just like, ‘Oh my God, that is so cool. An American team can win an Olympic medal. I want to be in those shoes and I want to be on the top of that podium and I want to be surrounded by those rings!’ “
The Boston native, 30, says that "ever since then, I've really just been dreaming about the Olympics and doing what I can to achieve that dream and that goal. I've pretty much dedicated my whole life to curling."
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Korey Dropkin
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Dropkin tells PEOPLE he’s “so excited” about competing in curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics, playing mixed doubles with partner Cory Thiesse.
“This is what I've been dreaming for,” Dropkin says. “I'm thrilled. This is going to be a dream come true.”
It might have been inevitable that Dropkin would bring curling to the biggest international stage; after all, his parents, Shelley and Keith Dropkin, are longtime curlers themselves. Dropkin says curling has been "a family sport" since “before I was even around.”
"I grew up at the curling club. My older brother, Steven, was already curling when I came around. My parents were involved in the youth program at our curling club at Broomstones in Wayland, Massachusetts," says the 2023 mixed doubles world champion. "In general, I was always involved in the environment and I soaked everything in, watching from behind the glass and following my brother whenever he was competing.”
"Curling has been a calling. And it's been like a religion, in a way," he adds.
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Dropkin family
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The University of Minnesota Duluth alumnus has found his own calling as a skip on the U.S. curling team, coming up with strategies and directing his team’s play as its captain. He's competed for several years, but has really shone in mixed doubles alongside Thiesse.
“The way that Cory and I like to go about our business is, Let's have some fun and focus on our processes and let the rest take care of itself,” Dropkin says. The duo took home gold at the 2023 World Championships and finished fifth in last year's competition.
They're hoping for a podium placement this year, of course, but no matter the results, Dropkin says, making it to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics has already been fulfilling enough for him, and his family, in its own right.
“Me fulfilling this dream is like — it's a family dream,” Droplin says, smiling. “It's like we're all now Olympians in a way.”
Read the original article on People
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