Winter Paralympics: Neil Simpson wins Great Britain’s first gold medal of Games
The 19-year-old took victory in the men’s super-G vision impaired alongside his guide and brother Andrew
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Neil Simpson has claimed Great Britain’s first gold medal of the 2022 Winter Paralympics in the men’s super-G vision impaired class alongside his guide and brother Andrew Simpson.
The pair clocked 1:08.91 minutes to finish 0.4s clear of the rest of the field, topping the podium at their first ever Paralympic Games. The 19-year-old is also the first British male athlete to win a Winter Paralympic gold, following successes for Kelly Gallagher in 2014 and Menna Fitzpatrick in 2018.
He said the win - ParalympicsGB’s third gold at a Winter Game - had not yet sunk in.
“This is our first season doing super-G. Initially when we came down and Andrew said we had gone into first place, there was a bit of an anxious wait,” he 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.”
His 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,” he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments