Big news from a few days back, posted now because it must be acknowledged here.

MPR News: “Duluth curling team claims silver medal at Winter Olympics“

Duluth curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin claimed silver medals at the Winter Olympics in Italy on Tuesday, falling to the Swedish team 6-5 in the gold-medal game for the mixed doubles event.

While the Americans were hoping for gold — it’s still the first time the U.S. has earned a medal in mixed doubles curling. And Thiesse is the first U.S. woman to medal in curling at the Olympics.

… Fans gathered to watch Tuesday’s game at the Duluth Curling Club, where Thiesse and Dropkin train.

Speaking ahead of the game, Kerry Hadiaris, the manager of Duluth Curling Club, said that although 50 members of the club went to Milan-Cortina to cheer the duo on — she and the rest of the club would be doing the same from Minnesota.

… Dropkin and Thiesse are based in Duluth, and have full-time jobs. Thiesse is a lab technician and Dropkin a real estate agent. Dropkin is engaged and Thiesse is married.

They were classmates in college. Dropkin asked Thiesse to be his mixed doubles partner after a failed qualification run for the Beijing 2022 Games. She agreed — and they were world champions a year later.