Nineteen-year-old Neil Simpson is the first British male athlete to win a gold medal on snow; along with his guide and brother Andrew, Neil clocked a time of 1:08.91 to finish nearly half a second clear of the rest of the field in the men's Super-G vision impaired skiing
Sunday 6 March 2022 10:13, UK
Neil Simpson has claimed Great Britain's first gold medal of the 2022 Winter Paralympics in the men's Super-G vision impaired skiing, alongside his guide and brother Andrew Simpson.
The pair clocked a time of 1:08.91 to finish nearly half a second clear of the rest of the field, topping the podium at their first-ever Paralympic Games. Nineteen-year-old Neil is the first British male athlete to win a gold on snow.
He said the win had not yet sunk in. "This is our first season doing Super-G. Initially when we came down and
Andrew said we had gone in to first place, there was a bit of an anxious wait," Neil said.
"I wasn't thinking about it being a winning performance, I was just thinking that it was a good run. We put it all down on the line and really went for it and I'm just very happy with the performance - it felt good.
"There was a sketchy moment coming into the bowl but we knew we needed to get back on it and really went for it down the bowl, so I'm really happy with that."
Neil's guide and brother Andrew said he had never expected to win gold when the pair began competing together.
"The race went as planned, at the race inspection we were like, this needs to be attacked from the get-go, and we went and did exactly that," Andrew said.
Simpson's gold was the second medal of the day for Team GB after Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide Gary Smith won silver in the women's race.
It is the 23-year-old Fitzpatrick's fifth Paralympic medal of her career, making her Great Britain's most successful ever Winter Paralympian.
Fitzpatrick recovered from a broken leg in March 2020, while her initial guide Katie Guest was ruled out of the Games due to a positive Covid test.
"To be here at all is a great achievement, but then to stand up on that podium is absolutely amazing," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm so proud of what we've achieved together.
"We went out to ski well and build on the day before and we are super, super happy."
