Dropkin scores perfect 6-ender in mixed doubles
Dropkin and Russian teammate Marina Verenich made all their shots in the sixth end while their opponents - Switzerland's Elena Stern and Estonia's Sander Rouk - missed all five of theirs en route to a 13-3 win in the first round of mixed doubles here at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games. In mixed doubles, each team throws five stones but there is a sixth stone that is a stationary rock put in play at the start of the end. In traditional curling, an eight-ender is the maximum you can score and very rare, comparable to golf's hole-in-one. They were coached by Team USA's Wally Henry (Beaver Dam, Wis.).
As the end unfurled, the excitement of the big end became apparent to Dropkin, who throws the second, third and fourth stones of each end, as he went back into the hack to throw the last rock, which was actually his teammate's to throw. She softly yelled "hey, hey" down the sheet of ice and placed her hands up to stop him. They quickly switched spots and Verenich drew the sixth stone in to make WYOG history. Had he thrown an extra rock, they would not have been able to score the perfect six as the final stone would not have counted.
"Yeah, I was excited, and I forgot," Dropkin said and laughed after the game. "I just didn't realize it at first and then I was like, 'Wait this is my fourth rock.'"
To read the full press release, click on the PDF below.
