Way to go, bro!
Neil wins GB’s first Olympic men’s snow gold with brother he’s skied with from age of 4
SKI sensation Neil Simpson made Paralympic history yesterday by becoming the first British man to win gold at a Winter Games.
The 20-year-old scooped the medal in the men’s Super-G vision impaired class, with brother and guide Andrew, 21, by his side.
They clocked one minute 08.91 seconds, almost half-a-second clear of the rest of the field, at their first ever Paralympics in Beijing.
Neil, who has been skiing since he was four with Andrew, said: “This is our first season doing Super-G. When Andrew said we had gone into first place, there was a bit of an anxious wait.
“I could tell it was quick but I didn’t know how special it was. I’m just really thrilled, it’s not sunk in.
“Andrew was shouting and screaming. I said, ‘Yeah, maybe a podium’. It is such a high, it’s almost indescribable.”
Andrew added: “I never thought this would happen when we first started. We called our family. They’re ecstatic.
“We spend all the time together, especially here.
“We share a room, go to meals together, but it means we know exactly what each other wants and needs.”
Neil, from Banchory in Aberdeenshire, has Nystagmus, which causes involuntary eye movements. He and Andrew started out at the Gordon Skiers group, where they were both awarded trophies.
The pair broke into international competition in 2018, winning slalom gold and giant slalom bronze at the Para Alpine World Cup.
Neil went on to be shortlisted for 2020’s BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. He and Andrew are the first men to win a Team GB gold on snow after successes for women Kelly Gallagher in 2014 and Menna Fitzpatrick in 2018. Their gold in Beijing was the second medal of the day for Britain after Menna, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, and guide Gary Smith, from Luton, Beds, took silver in the women’s race. It was Menna’s fifth Paralympic medal of her career, making the 23-year-old our most successful Winter Paralympian.