CORTINA, ITALY – Kate Delson and Noah Elliott won gold medals to lead a four-medal day for Team USA in banked slalom Friday at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Brenna Huckaby and Mike Schultz added bronze medals as the United States placed four riders on the podium across the women’s SB-LL2 and men’s SB-LL1 races.

Banked slalom is a two-run timed event, with the faster of the two runs determining the final result. Riders at Cortina Para Snowboard Park faced the Roncato course, a 600-meter track with 26 elements and a long series of bermed turns where speed through the rollers and clean lines through the banks proved decisive.

WOMEN’S SB-LL2

Delson set the pace for the United States in the women’s SB-LL2 race. The 20-year-old led after the opening run and held that position in the second to secure the first Paralympic gold medal of her career, adding it to the snowboard cross silver she won earlier in her debut Games.

Her runs matched what the course demanded. Delson stayed smooth through sections where other riders washed speed and carried momentum low through the berms as the course continued to run quickly in the second run.

“I knew I had to put it down,” Delson said. “I knew the course was running faster, so I just had to fix one line and do what I did.”

Lisa Bunschoten-Vos of the Netherlands finished second while Huckaby joined her teammate on the podium with bronze. Jaclyn Hamwey placed ninth, giving the United States three riders in the final standings.

Huckaby’s medal came while racing outside her usual classification. The SB-LL1 rider competed in the SB-LL2 event, which includes athletes with less severe lower-limb impairment.

“It was really hard for me today, and these girls are really good,” Huckaby said. “I just went out there and left everything on the line.”

Delson closed her first Paralympic Games with two medals.

“It feels unreal to have a gold medal,” she said. “Medals are medals, but just progressing my snowboarding and having so much fun out there on the course is what makes me happy.”

MEN’S SB-LL1

The men’s SB-LL1 race produced the second gold medal of the day for Team USA. Elliott set the pace with the fastest opening run, which gave him the final start position in the second run, and he protected that lead to secure the title.

The result added to Elliott’s silver medal earlier in the week in snowboard cross and marked a return to the top of the Paralympic podium.

“I’ve worked so hard, and this is my ‘Redemption Games,’” Elliott said. “To stand atop the podium today and hear our national anthem, I couldn’t be more proud.”

Daichi Oguri of Japan finished second while Schultz claimed bronze after remaining in the medal positions across both runs.

Schultz reviewed footage from the opening run before adjusting his approach for the second.

“I knew I could tighten up some of the lines and be a little quicker and more dynamic,” Schultz said. “To be on the podium and bring home a medal in my last Paralympic Games feels good.”

MEN’S SB-LL2

The men’s SB-LL2 race closed the banked slalom program.

Italy’s Emanuel Perathoner won the event, followed by Fabrice von Gruenigen of Switzerland and Australia’s Ben Tudhope.

Zach Miller was the top American finisher in fifth place, with Keith Gabel eighth and Joe Pleban eleventh.

Miller remained in the top group through both runs but finished just outside the podium. Gabel’s result carried additional significance, as the veteran American has indicated this season would mark the final Paralympic competition of his career.

RESULTS

By the end of the day, Team USA had produced one of its strongest sessions of the Para snowboard program in Cortina, with Delson earning the first Paralympic title of her career and Elliott returning to gold while Huckaby and Schultz added veteran podium performances.