Most Olympic athletes train full-time with corporate sponsorships funding their careers. Cory Thiesse processes chemical samples at a mercury-testing lab in Duluth, Minnesota, requesting vacation days to compete at the Winter Olympics.
She was Born December 1, 1994, as Cory Christensen in Duluth, she discovered curling at the St. Paul Curling Club as a teenager. The sport—often misunderstood by Americans unfamiliar with its strategy and precision—became her passion. Twenty years later, she stands among America’s most accomplished curlers while maintaining a regular job that has nothing to do with ice or stones.
Growing Up in Minnesota’s Curling Culture
Cory grew up in Duluth, a city where curling enjoys stronger tradition than most American communities. Details about her parents and early family life remain private, as she has kept focus on athletics rather than personal background in public interviews.
She attended local schools in Duluth before enrolling at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where she graduated with a degree in exercise science. Her education choice reflected dual interests—understanding human performance while preparing for career options beyond competitive sports.
During her university years, she competed in Minnesota’s junior curling circuit, where she first met Korey Dropkin, though they wouldn’t become partners until over a decade later. The Duluth Curling Club became her training home, a facility that has produced multiple Olympic curlers despite Minnesota’s relatively small population.
Junior Curling Dominance
Cory’s competitive career began seriously at the 2011 United States Junior National Championships, where she finished fifth. That would be her only junior nationals where she didn’t reach the championship final—she appeared in six total junior championships and won four of them.
In 2012, she won her first national title, earning the right to represent the United States at the World Junior Championships in Ostersund, Sweden. Her team finished winless at 0-9, a difficult international debut that taught valuable lessons about competing at elite levels.
Tragedy struck weeks after that championship when her vice-skip Elizabeth Busche died from cancer. Busche’s sudden death at such a young age devastated Cory and the Duluth junior curling community. She returned to competition the following season with a new lineup, showing the resilience that would define her career.
From 2014 to 2016, Cory won three consecutive Junior National Championships, establishing herself as one of America’s top young curlers. She was named USA Curling’s 2016 Female Athlete of the Year, recognition of both her competitive success and sportsmanship—she had previously won the Women’s Curtis Cup for Sportsmanship in 2011.
Building an Adult Curling Career
After aging out of junior competition, Cory transitioned to adult curling where competition intensified significantly. She played various positions—skip, third, second—demonstrating versatility across team roles.
In 2018, she served as alternate on Nina Roth’s Olympic team that competed in PyeongChang. Being so close to Olympic competition without actually competing on the ice motivated her to find pathways back to future Games.
She competed in mixed doubles curling alongside John Shuster, winning bronze at the 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. This achievement showed her ability to succeed in the two-person format, which requires different strategies than traditional four-person teams.
In 2021, Cory formed a new team and won the United States Women’s Curling Championship, her first national title as skip at the adult level. She defended that championship in 2023 and 2024, establishing herself among America’s elite female curlers.
The Partnership with Korey Dropkin
In April 2022, after neither of their respective teams qualified for the Beijing Olympics, Korey Dropkin invited Cory out for drinks. The conversation wasn’t romantic—it was about curling. He asked if she’d partner with him in mixed doubles. She immediately agreed.
“Korey and I have been really good friends for a long time,” Cory told the Duluth News Tribune in 2023. “Both of us living in Duluth, it works out well that we’re able to practice together. It seemed like a good fit and I was ready to try something new, and it worked out.”
One year after forming their partnership, they won the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, defeating Switzerland 8-6 in the final. This world title qualified them for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics and established them as serious medal contenders.
Balancing Work and Olympic Training
Unlike professional athletes in mainstream sports, elite curlers rarely earn enough from competition to support themselves. Cory works as a chemical dependency laboratory technician at North Shore Analytical, a mercury-testing facility in Duluth. According to coverage on Parade Olympics section, she had to request time off from her job to compete at the 2026 Olympics.
Her work involves processing samples, following strict laboratory protocols, and maintaining detailed records—skills that transfer surprisingly well to curling’s precision requirements. The job provides stable income and health insurance that competitive curling doesn’t offer.
Training happens before and after work shifts, on weekends, and during vacation time. She and Korey practice together at the Duluth Curling Club when their work schedules align, fitting Olympic preparation around employment responsibilities that most elite athletes abandoned years earlier.
Personal Life with Sam Thiesse
Cory is married to Sam Thiesse, a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley in Duluth. They married at some point after her 2021 national championship win—she competed as “Cory Christensen” until changing her surname to Thiesse following marriage.
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Sam supports her curling career while maintaining his own professional life. The couple keeps their relationship private, sharing little personal information beyond acknowledging their marriage publicly. This privacy boundary allows them to maintain normalcy despite Cory’s growing public profile.
People often ask if she and Korey Dropkin are romantically involved, given their chemistry on ice and close friendship. The answer is definitively no—Cory is married to Sam, while Korey is engaged to Gabby Tachis.
Career Achievements Summary
Cory’s competitive record includes four U.S. Junior National Championships (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016), three U.S. Women’s National Championships as skip (2021, 2023, 2024), World Mixed Doubles Championship gold (2023), World Mixed Doubles Championship bronze (2019), and Olympic medal at Milano Cortina 2026.
She represented the United States at multiple World Women’s Curling Championships, reaching the playoffs in some years and narrowly missing in others. Her consistency across nearly 15 years of elite competition demonstrates sustained excellence in a sport where many athletes peak briefly before fading.
Net Worth and Income Reality
Cory’s net worth is likely modest compared to professional athletes in mainstream sports. Her primary income comes from her laboratory technician job, which provides stable salary and benefits. Curling provides small supplemental income through prize money from winning events and modest stipends from USA Curling for national team members.
Olympic medal bonuses provide one-time payments—$37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, $15,000 for bronze—but these don’t constitute wealth-building income. Her financial stability comes from employment outside curling, which is the reality for most Olympic athletes in non-mainstream sports.
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