Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse guaranteed the United States its first Olympic medal in mixed doubles curling, reaching the final on Monday with a 9-8 win over Italy at Games Milano Cortina.

Dropkin, from Massachusetts, and Thiesse, from Minnesota, whooped and hollered as they chased away the hosts, hugging each other tightly. Thiesse made her first Winter Olympic appearance at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, placing 8th with the women’s curling team; it is Dropkin’s first Olympic Games.

The duo gave the USA their due the first mixed doubles curling world title in 2023a year after they got together.

Curling runs in both their families, and Dropkin says it’s “like a religion” to him.

“I grew up in a curling club,” he said the 30-year-old told CBS News. “My parents were super involved in the junior program at our curling club. My brother was five years older. He was already in curling. I followed in his footsteps. I was like his shadow.”

Thiesse is the daughter of Linda Christensen, who also competed for Team USA and is a two-time US Senior National Champion and one-time World Senior Champion.

When is the USA curling team’s gold medal doubleheader?

The match between Dropkin and Thiesse is scheduled for the gold medal in mixed doubles curling against Sweden Tuesday, February 10, at 12:05 PM ET.

The Americans will play Swedish siblings Isabella and Rasmus Wran, who defeated British duo Jennifer Dodds and Brett Mouat 9-3 in the other semi-final.

Dodds and Mouat, best friends who grew up curling together, entered the court as favorites and expected to be in the final.

A Swedish brother and sister team curl together after growing up as rivals. Sweden won bronze in the mixed doubles in 2022.

How many peaks does curling have?

Similar to innings in baseball, curling is played in “ends”. At each end, 16 stones are thrown in one direction and the score is determined. In the next end, stones are thrown in the other direction.

In a curling game, two teams compete to see who can get the most granite pebbles to a target called a “tee” by sliding down a narrow patch of ice.

The distance between where the player must release the rock and the tee at the other end is about 93 feet (28 meters).

The board is only 5 meters (16.4 feet) wide and stones from both teams pile up each round, so it gets crowded.

In each round, up to 10 rounds, teams have eight chances to push specialized 44-pound (20 kg) stones toward the tee. They can aim directly for the center, try to deflect the opponent’s stones, or push their own stones closer to the target. Strategies include blocking and removal.