Para snowboarder with ties to Steamboat wins ‘Best Athlete with a Disability’ award at 2025 ESPYs

Paralympic snowboard gold medalist and former Steamboat Springs resident Noah Elliott was awarded the ESPY for “Best Athlete with a Disability” at the 2025 ESPY Awards on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

ESPY is short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly. The annual awards show honors the top athletes and moments across sports. This is Elliott’s first ESPY nomination and win. 

“I couldn’t be more proud,” Elliott said in a U.S. Ski and Snowboard news release. “This is such an achievement. To be here representing adaptive sports and Para snowboard community — I couldn’t be more proud.” 

Elliott completed one of the best seasons of his career this winter, taking home two FIS Para snowboard crystal globes, two world championship medals, and winning every World Cup banked slalom event he competed in. 

He collected eight World Cup podiums and five wins across snowboard cross and banked slalom events, earning him the title of the world No. 1 Para snowboarder in the LL1 classification. 

His crystal globes were awarded to him at the World Cup event in Steamboat Springs earlier this year. 

At age 15, Elliott was diagnosed with osteosarcoma bone cancer in his left leg. During treatment, the Missouri native was offered a chance to visit Steamboat Springs through the Sunshine Kids Foundation. 

“I came (to Steamboat) as a kid with cancer, my first time ever seeing the mountains,” Elliott said in a February interview. “I fell in love with the community and got the opportunity to come back after I got my amputation. From that point on, I was able to begin my snowboarding. My first days on snow were here. From my day one to me getting the overall (in Steamboat was) a full circle moment for me.”

Elliott is a two-time Paralympian, winning banked slalom gold and snowboard cross bronze in 2018. Following his medal runs, he decided it was time to give back to the community that gave his career a jumpstart, returning to the Yampa Valley that same year and staying until 2022. 

He worked at Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports in town, helping others learn how to “skateboard the mountains.” Now 28, Elliott resides in the Colorado Springs area.

Elliott had the opportunity to address the adaptive community on ESPN when he accepted his award on Wednesday.

“I want you to know that I am a survivor and you can be one, too, and there can be a life past cancer or disability,” he said in his address. “Just continue to get out there and put your best foot forward and try to continue to strive to be the best you can be.”

Other nominees in the “Best Athlete with a Disability” category include Para triathlon athlete Grace Norman and Para track and field athletes Ezra Frech and Tatyana McFadden.

“We are thrilled for Noah’s first ESPY win,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, president and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in the release. “Noah has achieved a great deal in his sport and is a best-in-class athlete on and off the snow. His dedication to Para snowboarding is incredible to watch and I am so proud to have him recognized on this stage of sport.”