Park City Para-Snowboarder Kate Delson, 20, Wins Silver at Milano Cortina Paralympics

Kate Delson stood on the podium at Cortina Para Snowboard Park on March 8 as the youngest member of the U.S. para snowboarding team, having just earned a silver medal in the Women's Lower Limb 2 snowboard cross at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. The Park City resident was 20 years old and competing in her first Paralympics when she crossed the finish line behind France's Cecile Hernandez, who took gold, and ahead of China's Wang Xinyu, who claimed bronze.

"I was present the whole time," Delson said of her silver medal-earning run. "I was just enjoying the moment into that final. You only get to drop your first Paralympics Big Final once in your life, if you get any. So I was really in the moment, and that paid off."

Delson's path to Cortina began at age 3, when she started skiing with Disabled Sports Eastern Sierras. Born with a congenital disability that left her missing most of the muscles in her right leg, including her calf, she found skiing difficult and transitioned to snowboarding at age 6. After graduating high school, she moved to Salt Lake City to train. The results came quickly: during the 2024-25 season, she won two World Cup events, in Lenk, Switzerland, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and finished ranked second in the world. She added a silver medal at the 2025 Para Snowboard World Championships in Big White, Canada, then won the overall crystal globe in the 2025-26 FIS Para Snowboard World Cup before being selected for the U.S. Paralympic team in February 2026.

"I'm so proud to be here representing my country and family and friends that are here and at home, that have supported me from the very beginning," Delson said. "Their support has brought the confidence that I get to wear now, and I'm so excited to show them this medal and put it over their necks."

Delson was not the only Park City athlete on the podium that Sunday. Teammate Noah Elliott, a National Ability Center alumnus who trains in Park City, won silver in the Men's Snowboard Cross Lower Limb 1 event on the same day, falling to China's Wu Zhongwei in the big final, with Canada's Tyler Turner taking bronze. The result completed Elliott's Paralympic medal set: he won gold and bronze at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and now adds silver from Cortina. Elliott has also won two FIS Crystal Globes and ESPN's 2025 Athlete with a Disability ESPY.

"It's been a lot of hard work these last four years," Elliott said. "I couldn't be more proud to cross that finish line and get my medal today."

Both Delson and Elliott were scheduled to return to competition in Cortina d'Ampezzo for the banked slalom, alongside Utah teammates Keith Gabel, Zach Miller, and Joe Pleban, with the Milano Cortina Games set to close out the following Sunday.