Brenna Huckaby: Grit on a Snowboard, Eyes on Milano Cortina 2026

Brenna Huckaby grew up a nationally ranked gymnast until osteosarcoma at 14 led to the amputation of her right leg above the knee. A rehab trip to Utah put a snowboard under her feet, and the balance-beam instincts never left—she shifted from the gym to the mountains and, within a few years, to the world stage. Para snowboarding clicked fast. Huckaby surged through World Cups and took double gold at PyeongChang 2018 (snowboard cross and banked slalom). It was the arrival of a new U.S. star who paired power with precise edge control. 

Huckaby rides with a gymnast’s posture and a racer’s timing, a clean pump through rollers, confident line choice, and a knack for staying composed in traffic. That mix explains her banked-slalom precision and her resilience in chaotic boardercross heats. Para snowboarding is slated for Cortina’s Para Snowboard Park with eight medal events on the schedule. For an LL1 rider who’s proven she can excel against LL2 fields, the brief Olympic cycle is about health, race reps, and seeding.