Neil Simpson wins Great Britain's first-ever men's Paralympic gold

Neil Simpson becomes Great Britain's first-ever men's Paralympic Winter Games gold medallist

The 19-year-old Scot, guided by his brother Andrew, triumphed in the men's super-G vision impaired competition on Sunday morning.

Neil Simpson
(2022 Getty Images)

Neil Simpson has become Great Britain's first-ever men's Paralympic Winter Games gold medallist after storming to victory in the men's super-G vision impaired event in Beijing on Sunday morning.

The 19-year-old, who was guided by his 21-year-old brother Andrew, skied to victory in a time of 1:08.91, .40 seconds faster than Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA) in second.

Neil Simpson of Team Great Britain, with his guide Andrew Simpson
Neil Simpson of Team Great Britain, with his guide Andrew Simpson (2022 Getty Images)

It was the second event of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games for the pair after competing in Saturday's downhill competition, where they finished seventh.

And after Johannes Aigner (AUT), who won gold in the downhill competition, and Bertagnolli set fast times of 1:09.74 and 1:09.31 respectively in the super-G event, the pressure was on Team GB's Paralympic debutants to pull out all the stops to finish on the podium.

The brothers did just that, clocking the fastest time at the second intermediate and propelling themselves into the gold-medal position from which none of the remaining skiers could move them.

"I still can't put it into words quite yet," said Neil after the race. "It's been quite a turnover the last couple of years with everything going on. I still can't believe it.

"Andrew was shouting and screaming. I said, 'Yeah, maybe a podium'. It's just that wait. It's such a high - it's almost indescribable."

Older brother and guide Andrew continued: "I know how to get Neil fired up and I know how to keep him calm, and the crucial thing - making sure he's in the right mood to go for it. And he's very good at doing the same for me. We know exactly what each other wants and needs."

The Simpsons, who hail from Banchory in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, made their international debut together in the 2019-20 season, and will have more opportunities to add to their medal haul in Beijing as they are scheduled to compete in the super combined (7 March), giant slalom (10 March) and slalom (12 March) competitions.

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