When Kate Delson was 3 years old, she was skiing in the Eastern Sierras through a program for kids with disabilities. She was born missing most of the muscles in her right leg, calf included, and walking had been uncertain early on.

But the leg separation skiing required kept getting harder. At 6, she asked to try snowboarding instead. Both feet locked onto one board, she figured out how to move. "I never felt held back by my disability on a snowboard," she told Paralympics.org recently.

She is now 20 years old, ranked second in the world in para snowboard cross, and heading to her first Paralympic Games.

What the 2024-25 Season Looked Like

Delson's breakout season was decisive. She won two World Cups, in Switzerland and in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and collected four total podiums across the circuit. She finished the year ranked second globally in snowboard cross. Then she went to the 2025 Para Snowboard World Championships and won silver.

The FIS, the international federation for skiing and snowboarding, called her the "new kid on the block." She is the youngest member of the U.S. Para Snowboard Team and earned her spot in the top tier of her sport in a single season.

"I really want to go into the Paralympic Games with no expectations. That's a lot easier said than done. I've been doing everything I can to ride my best, and I'm confident that if I keep up this trajectory, it will result in a podium finish."

What to Watch for in Cortina

Para snowboard cross pits athletes against each other in head-to-head races down a course built with jumps, banked turns, and rollers. Speed matters. So does line selection, because the difference between a smooth line and a rough one can be a race. Delson has shown the ability to find both.

Her events are at the Cortina d'Ampezzo venues, with the Games running March 6 through 15. Brenna Huckaby, going for her fourth Paralympic gold in the same venue, represents what a full career in para snowboard can look like.

Why This Story Matters Beyond the Results

She started in skiing and it didn't fit, switched to snowboarding, and built one of the best para snowboard careers in the world in a couple of years. She's going to her first Paralympics as a legitimate medal contender, and in Cortina this March she'll have a chance to show what that means on the biggest stage in para sport.