Korey Dropkin is an American curling athlete who has spent more than two decades building a career in one of the sport’s most demanding and least financially rewarded disciplines. Raised in a family deeply involved in curling, he developed his skills from a young age and gradually worked his way through junior, national, and international competition.
Known for his persistence and long-term commitment to the sport, Dropkin’s journey reflects the reality of elite curling in the United States—years of near misses, personal sacrifice, and steady improvement before reaching the highest level. His career stands as an example of how success in curling is shaped more by patience and family support than by early fame.
Growing Up in a Curling Family
Korey Dropkin was born June 11, 1995, in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Southborough. His father Keith started curling in college and joined Broomstones Curling Club in 1978, years before Korey was born. His mother Shelley became equally involved in the sport after marriage, and together they helped transform Broomstones from a struggling club into one of the country’s most prominent with around 480 members.
Keith and Shelley served as co-vice presidents of Broomstones during a period when the club’s survival was uncertain. They led community outreach efforts to recruit new members and invested heavily in developing the junior curling program—including their own children, Korey and his older brother Stephen Dropkin.
Stephen became a competitive curler himself and played a crucial role in Korey’s early development. The brothers curled together on the 2012 United States Junior Curling Championship team, with Stephen skipping and Korey playing third. They won that championship—Korey’s first of three junior national titles.
The family’s curling involvement was complete—both parents coaching and leading the club, both sons competing at elite levels. “It’s almost hard to describe the words when you see your child’s dream come true,” Shelley said after Korey qualified for the 2026 Olympics.
A Ten-Year-Old Watching History
In 2006, ten-year-old Korey sat in his parents’ basement watching the U.S. men’s curling team win bronze at the Torino Olympics—the first American Olympic medal in the sport. That moment planted a seed that would drive him for the next two decades.
He started competing young, playing in his first World Curling Tour event at the 2010 Laphroaig Scotch Open at age 15. Even as a teenager, Rich Collier—Broomstones’ president who started around the same time as Korey—described him as “fiercely competitive,” noting he was always serious about curling rather than treating it as a casual hobby.
While in the junior program at Broomstones, Korey “played at an adult level,” Collier recalled, often curling alongside more senior members in the club’s most competitive leagues.
Education and Moving to Minnesota
Korey attended high school in Massachusetts before enrolling at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree. The move to Duluth wasn’t random—it was strategic. Duluth is considered the curling capital of the United States, providing access to elite training facilities, competitive teams, and a culture where curling is treated seriously rather than as a novelty sport.
“If he was going to achieve everything he wanted, he had to move to the capital of curling,” noted one profile. That decision meant leaving his family and the club where he’d grown up, but it positioned him for the highest levels of competition.
While pursuing curling, Korey worked as a licensed realtor in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin with the Superior Shores Real Estate Group. This dual-career reality reflects curling’s financial challenges—even elite athletes need other income sources.
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Building a National Team Career
Korey’s competitive resume built steadily through his twenties. He won three U.S. Junior Championships (2012, 2013, 2016). He represented the United States at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, where his team finished fifth. In 2013, he competed at the Winter Universiade, playing lead for Chris Plys’s team.
His first major senior breakthrough came in 2021 when he won the United States Men’s Curling Championship—though the event was postponed until after that year’s World Championships due to COVID-19. The following season, he finished runner-up at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, losing to defending Olympic champion John Shuster in the final.
That loss was devastating, but it wasn’t the end. In 2022, when the U.S. nationals were cancelled due to the pandemic, Korey’s team was invited to represent the United States at the World Men’s Curling Championship, where they finished fourth.
In 2025, his team won the U.S. Men’s National Championship again, representing the United States at the 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship where they finished 11th. According to Team USA’s official profile, he’s competed at three World Men’s Championships and four World Mixed Doubles Championships throughout his career.
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Mixed Doubles Success and the Cory Partnership
Korey first played mixed doubles with Sarah Anderson, winning U.S. national titles in 2015 and 2018. They competed at two World Championships together but never medaled. He also partnered with Jamie Sinclair at the 2017 Olympic Trials, finishing seventh.
After failing to qualify for the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Korey knew he needed a change. He set his sights on Cory Thiesse, a friend and former classmate at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Cory’s mother Linda Christensen—herself a two-time senior national champion—had been suggesting the partnership for years.
In 2022, Korey met Cory at the Pickwick restaurant in Duluth. “There’s no better place than the Pickwick to do something like that,” Korey said. Over drinks, he made his pitch: let’s be partners.
“I was like, sure,” Cory recalled, not needing much time to consider.
The partnership clicked immediately. In 2023, they won the U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship in their first season together. They then won the World Mixed Doubles Championship, defeating Japan 8-2 in the final—the United States’ first world mixed doubles gold medal.
The Road to Olympic Gold
Korey and Cory won the 2025 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, then finished fifth at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Championships—results that qualified them for Milano Cortina 2026. They became the first Team USA athletes to qualify for the Games.
Their partnership works because of complementary strengths. “Korey brings the energy to our team,” Cory told Time Magazine. “He is Mr. Fist Bump. He’s full of energy. And that’s really great for me. Because that is something that I’ve always sort of lacked out on the ice. I’m more the calm and collected one.”
Personal Life and Relationship
Korey is engaged to Gabby Tachis, though they are not yet married. Gabby attended the 2026 Olympics to support him, watching as he achieved the dream he’d chased for two decades. The couple keeps most details of their relationship private, focusing public attention on curling rather than personal matters.
Outside curling, Korey enjoys giving back to the sport through mentoring young athletes and promoting curling across the United States. He’s been selected as captain of Frontier, the U.S.-based team in the Rock League—the first professional curling league in the world, scheduled to begin in April 2026.
Financial Reality: The Challenge of Professional Curling
There is no publicly verified information about Korey Dropkin’s personal net worth. The following explains curling’s general financial structure.
Even elite curlers like Korey need other careers. He works as a licensed realtor because curling doesn’t provide sustainable income for most athletes. “We keep talking about professionalizing the sport in the U.S., but we don’t have the infrastructure to really do that in a way that you actually make a living doing this,” Shelley Dropkin explained. “Many countries do. We’re not there yet.”
Korey’s income comes from:
- Modest stipends from USA Curling for national team members
- Prize money from competitions (typically small amounts)
- Olympic medal bonus ($37,500 for gold)
- Real estate work
- Potential sponsorships (not publicly disclosed)
The Rock League represents an attempt to create professional opportunities, but it’s too early to know if it will provide sustainable income for American curlers.
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