It was a thrilling finish for the youngest member of Team USA's para snowboard contingent, Kate Delson, 20. 

"I was present the whole time," she said of her final 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."

After Paralympic gold medal hopeful Brenna Huckaby placed a disappointing 3rd place in her semifinal heat, eyes turned to Delson, who has impressed with a stunning ascent through the rankings over the past two seasons. With multiple World Cup wins, Delson capped the 2025 season with a world championship silver — a sign of things to come.

Delson first started her winter sport journey at age 3, skiing with Disabled Sports Eastern Sierras. However, born with a congenital disability that left her without many of the necessary muscles in her lower right leg, skiing became difficult, and at 6 years old, Delson found snowboarding.

After graduating high school, she moved to train in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the move clearly has paid off. 

“I am very proud that I was able to get this medal and represent all my friends and my family and my coaches who have helped get me here," she said after receiving her medal.

Meanwhile, in the men's event, Noah Elliott rounded out a trio of Paralympic medals with a silver added to the gold and bronze he earned in 2018 in PyeongChang. 

“It feels so cool. I finally got the silver (medal) in there. So awesome to be able to have that and have it in a case one day set up," he said.

Elliott, who had hoped for a career in skateboarding before losing his lower left limb to osteosarcoma at age 15, has been a dominant force on the U.S. para snowboarding team, earning nine world championship medals to date.

At the Beijing Games in 2022, Elliott was injured, resulting in a further amputation of his left femur bone, and he said  coming back from that to earn another medal felt particularly sweet.

“Coming back from an amputation again and learning to walk again, learning to snowboard, I wasn't sure how it was going to affect my riding," he said. "Being able to actually just dig deep, focus, set a goal, set a plan, work out, stay strong and continue to progress my riding over the years brought me to where I am today. I couldn't be more proud coming here and actually riding as well as I did.”