By Ben Hoppe

Snoop Dogg was in the house at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium for some mixed doubles action on Friday morning.

Seated next to American curling star Korey Dropkin’s mom, Shelley, Snoop was given a show during the USA’s 7-5 victory over Canada in the first draw of the day.

Why was Snoop Dogg watching curling?

The legendary rapper originally burst onto the Olympic scene doing work for NBC during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. He spent time attending many of the events, often sitting with family members of athletes during competition. Snoop was such a positive addition, the “Life of Da Party”, if you will, Team USA invited him back as “Coach Snoop” for Milano Cortina 2026.

Ahead of the Winter Olympics, he had identified curling as one of the sports he was most excited to see while on a red-carpet intervew with Access Hollywood at the Golden Globes.

"Just so much fun!"

It was a trip for Thiesse and Dropkin to see Snoop in the stands, donning stars and stripes with the faces of the mixed doubles teammates on his jacket.

“It’s just so much fun having Snoop here,” Thiesse told reporters after the game. “We spotted him halfway through the game and saw his jacket that we are on, which was awesome. Just so cool to be able to meet him and to have him here supporting us.”

“He had his arm around my mom,” said Dropkin. “Like, get out of here. This is wild. I think coach mum was helping Snoop out, telling him all about curling.”

A long time coming

USA men's skip Danny Casper had previously recorded a video inviting Snoop to the Crown Royal Players’ Championship Grand Slam event earlier this season. While Snoop wasn't able to make that trip, he ended up crossing the pond to check out some curling action in Cortina.

After the morning draw, Casper and fellow Team USA skip Tabitha Peterson taught their “coach” how to curl.

The four-year popularity surge of curling is a big deal in the United States, and attention from Snoop Dogg along with other celebrities such as Kylie and Jason Kelce, will only help vault curling to new heights.