When Korey Dropkin isn’t selling homes in Minnesota, he’s making history on Olympic ice.
The 30-year-old Duluth, Minn., real estate pro helped secure the first-ever U.S. Olympic silver medal in mixed doubles curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy. Dropkin and teammate Cory Thiesse defeated defending 2022 Olympic gold medalist Italy to clinch a finals spot and then battled Sweden in a gold medal match-up that came down to the final stone in a 6-5 finish.
Dropkin called the experience “surreal.”
“I started dreaming of being an Olympian since I was 10 years old—watching Team USA in Torino in ‘06 win the [men's] bronze medal,” he said Thursday from the streets of Cortina, taking a break from cheering on Team USA at other Olympic events. “And now 20 years later, we’re competing in Italy at my first ever Winter Olympics. … I’ve imagined the podium in my head so many times.
“There’s 10 great teams here that could have been sharing that podium. … There were so many big games that were so close that came down to the last stone. … We’re so grateful to be taking home the silver medal.”
The medal not only marks a milestone for Team USA in one of the Winter Games’ fastest-growing events—it also has catapulted Dropkin and Thiesse into the international spotlight.
But back home in Minnesota, Dropkin is known by another title around town: REALTOR®.
Since 2020, Dropkin has balanced his real estate career with a rigorous training schedule and international competitions. An associate with Superior Shores Group at RE/MAX Results, Dropkin says the real estate community has been incredibly supportive throughout his Olympic journey.
“My RE/MAX Results office—they all know my dream of being an Olympian and getting on that podium,” he says. “So many colleagues in my office have been so gracious and available to help me.” Understanding clients helps, too. “Of course, it helps to have understanding clients when I’m gone,” he adds.
From Listings to Olympic Podiums
Dropkin began curling at age five and moved from Massachusetts to Minnesota in 2013 to pursue Olympic ambitions, joining the Duluth Curling Club—one of the nation’s elite curling communities. After narrowly missing qualification for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, he teamed up with Thiesse, who balances her own full-time career as a lab technician. The pair went on to capture the first mixed doubles World Championship title for the United States in 2023.
Dropkin’s dual careers in real estate and curling may seem worlds apart, but he views them as complementary—each reinforcing the discipline that helped carry him to Italy.
Whether on ice or in real estate, success hinges on strategy, focus, communication and composure under pressure. Mixed doubles curling demands split-second decision-making as teammates recalculate angles, weight and placement while reading the ice in real time. Real estate demands a similar skill set—carefully reading market conditions and navigating negotiations with precision.
For Dropkin, the two paths align in practical ways as well. Minnesota’s often slower winter housing market coincides with curling’s busiest competitive season. Balancing daily training, national competitions and international travel with listing appointments and client meetings requires carefully set priorities—but he says the responsibility of serving his real estate clients is motivating.
“It’s been so amazing to be part of such big decisions in people’s lives—especially people that I care so much for,” he says about his real estate career. “There’s a great responsibility with being a REALTOR®. I just love being involved in those important decisions in people’s lives.”
Energy on the Ice—and in Business
The energy Dropkin brings to client relationships is now drawing international attention on the ice.
During the Olympics, he became known for his high-energy celebrations—fist bumps, engaging with the crowd, even dancing—in a sport traditionally viewed as more reserved. CNN described him “like a WWE star vamping to the crowd.” Even Snoop Dogg was spotted wearing a shirt featuring curling’s newest stars—Dropkin and Thiesse.
“I love my sport of curling,” Dropkin says. “Traditionally, it is more of a quieter sport. But I think what a lot of the [fans] want is showing personality.”
Because curlers are miked up on the ice, fans can hear strategy and banter in real time.
“We want to be ourselves on the ice,” he says. “We want to show who we are. We don’t want to keep everything in tight. … When I’m loose, when I’m energized, when I’m engaging with the crowd, when I’m being the biggest cheerleader for my teammate—that’s when I play my best. It kind of works full circle. That energy recycles from the ice to the crowd and back.”
He adds with a laugh: “Yeah, I might have been flexing a little bit, too. But I was trying to get the crowd engaged—that’s just part of being in the Olympics and living my dream.”
Even with a silver medal now around his neck, Dropkin says the Olympics were about more than the final result.
“My big goal for this Olympics—it wasn’t just to get on that podium and bring home a medal,” he says. “It was to have fun. It’s about demonstrating the sport and how much I love it—my passion for it, the energy I have, how great it is, how fun and complex and strategical and how physically demanding mixed doubles curling is.”
After the whirlwind of competition and media attention that’s followed, Dropkin plans a brief reset before diving back into both curling and real estate.
“I actually was in my own little shell for the last week and a half,” he says. “I turned my phone off and all my social media off, just so I could minimize distractions and just be at my best and focus on one thing—having a good time and getting on that podium.”
When he powered back on, the support has been overwhelming, he says.
“I was just so grateful for all of the messages of support and everyone that’s reached out to cheer me on and give me some love,” he says.
His silver medal may now place him and Thiesse in the record books, but for Dropkin, the work continues—both on the ice and in real estate. There are still homes to sell, after all.
