Winter Paralympics: Great Britain claims first gold medal as Neil Simpson wins super-G in Beijing
Neil Simpson joins Millie Knight and Brett Wild as the winners of Great Britain's first medals of the Games.
Sunday 6 March 2022 09:16, UK
Great Britain has claimed its first gold medal in the 2022 Winter Paralympics after Neil Simpson won the men's Super-G vision impaired class alongside his guide and brother Andrew Simpson.
The pair clocked one minute 08.91 seconds to finish nearly half-a-second clear of the rest of the field, topping the podium at their first ever Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.
The 19-year-old, who is the first British male athlete to win a gold on snow, said the win had not yet sunk in.
He said: "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.
"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."
His guide and brother Andrew added he had never expected to win gold when the pair began competing together.
He said: "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."
Meanwhile, Millie Knight, who had suffered a number of crashes and concussions ahead of the event and even questioned her future in the sport, also celebrated bronze in the women's visually-impaired downhill.
The 23-year-old, along with guide Brett Wild, added a further medal to their silver from four years ago.
She said: "At the start I was just thinking, find the seconds, do anything you can do to go faster, it doesn't matter if you're scared, keep going.
"This bronze is something very special. It ranks above our silver four years ago in Pyeongchang.
"We have gone through some tough things and it has changed us."