Kayden Beasley plays forward for the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team. He just won gold at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games in front of 11,500 people, the largest crowd in the history of the sport.
Ask him what was going through his head during the gold medal game, and he'll tell you: nothing. Always onto the next play.
Read the Ice
For Beasley, the formula has always been simple: make the right play, and if you mess up, keep moving.
"I guess I'm trying to just make the right play most of the time. Try not to mess up, but if I do, work through it. Keep going."
This instinct is exactly what’s propelled his game on Team USA’s golden sled hockey team.
It's a simple strategy. And for Kayden, playing on a team that's won five straight Paralympic golds, it clearly works.
The Pressure Arrived Early
The U.S. women's hockey team won gold. Then the men's team won gold. And suddenly, Kayden and the sled hockey team were next in line to complete what would be an unprecedented American sweep.
That's when it hit him.
"I guess I felt it more then, during the Olympics. And then just heading into it, my mindset was a bit different. I didn't think about it a ton [the pressure of gold] until after we had actually won."
After the Golden Moment
Gold. Five in a row. And now? A little time off.
"I'm taking a bit of a break, hanging out with family more."
Having written history in Milano Cortina, a break is more than well-deserved. But with plenty of quads ahead of him, Beasley is just getting started. The legacy of the U.S. sled hockey team continues.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
I'm Amy Wotovich and I'm on a mission to personally interview 100% of the 2026 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team to create the largest primary dataset on athlete mindset from a single team in the history of the Games. Want to learn how to train your own mindset? Follow @amywotovich for daily mindset tips straight from Team USA’s best.
