Before the Games started, Kate Delson described what she wanted from her first Paralympics. "I really want to go into the Paralympic Games with no expectations," she told reporters. "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."

She was 20 years old, the youngest member of the U.S. Para Snowboard Team, and ranked second in the world in para snowboard cross. On Day 2 of competition, she won silver in snowboard cross. On Day 7, she won gold in banked slalom.

How She Got to a Snowboard

Delson was born missing most of the muscles in her right leg. She started skiing at 3 through a program for kids with disabilities in the Eastern Sierras. The leg separation skiing requires, both legs moving independently on separate planks, got harder for her as she grew. At 6, she asked to try snowboarding instead.

Both feet locked onto one board. The stance that had made skiing difficult wasn't the obstacle it had been. "I never felt held back by my disability on a snowboard," she told Paralympics.org before these Games.

The Season That Put Her on the Map

Her breakout came in the 2024-25 season. Two World Cup wins. Four total podiums across the circuit. She finished the year ranked second globally in para snowboard cross and then won silver at the 2025 Para Snowboard World Championships. The FIS, the international federation for skiing and snowboarding, called her the "new kid on the block."

She arrived at Milano Cortina among the favorites in two events: snowboard cross and the banked slalom, a different discipline that would run in the second week of competition.

Day 2: Silver in Her First Final

Snowboard cross sends athletes down a course built with jumps, banked turns, and rollers. Line selection matters as much as speed: picking the smooth line over the rough one can be the difference between the podium and sixth place. The course at Cortina started firm at the top and softened to slush under the Dolomites sun by midday. Delson ran clean heats and moved steadily through the field.

She crossed second in the women's SB-LL2 final, behind France's Cécile Hernandez, for her first Paralympic medal in her first final. Teammate Jackie Hamwey, also making her Games debut in the same field, finished seventh.

A pre-Games profile of Delson framed Milan as the moment she'd either confirm or test the ranking the 2024-25 season had built her. Day 2 confirmed it.

Day 7: Gold in Banked Slalom

Five days later, on March 13, Delson ran a best time of 1:02.99 in the women's SB-LL2 banked slalom, finishing ahead of Dutch veteran Lisa Bunschoten-Vos in second. That day was the biggest medal day of the Games for Team USA: Noah Elliott won gold in the men's LL1 banked slalom within hours of Delson's run, Kendall Gretsch took her first gold of the competition in biathlon, and Declan Farmer broke two Paralympic records in para ice hockey. Delson was the youngest of the banked slalom champions crowned on March 13.

The result gave her two medals from two events across nine days: a snowboard cross silver from a course race decided by speed and line, and a banked slalom gold decided by the same. Two different disciplines. Two podiums.

The Path She Took

She found adaptive snowboarding at 6 through a community program for kids with disabilities. She competed through junior circuits before her breakthrough season came at 19. By 20 she was at the Games with two medals.

The adaptive sports pathway she followed is available to kids getting into para snowboard today. Community programs for children with physical disabilities exist across most ski states. The progression from those programs to junior competition to World Cup racing is a known track, and Delson didn't skip steps.

For families watching these Games with a child who has a physical disability and an interest in winter sport, her trajectory is worth knowing: community adaptive program at 6, junior circuits through her teens, World Cup in her breakthrough season at 19, two medals at her first Games at 20.