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Neil Simpson, alongside his guide Rob Poth, secured Great Britain’s first medal at the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics by claiming silver in the alpine combined event. This achievement marks Simpson’s third Paralympic medal, adding to his record after finishing fourth twice earlier in these Games. The alpine combined consists of two different runs—the super G and the slalom—with competitors’ times adjusted and combined to establish final rankings.
After completing the morning super G on the famous Tofane piste, Simpson and Poth were positioned in fourth place, trailing the bronze medal by 0.57 seconds. However, they made a strong comeback in the afternoon’s slalom, registering the fastest time of the run and moving up two places on the leaderboard. This advancement also came as Canada’s Kalle Ericsson and his guide Sierra Smith were knocked out of medal contention. The defending champions from Italy, Giacomo Bertagnolli and Andrea Ravelli, retained their title by finishing 0.65 seconds ahead, while Austria’s Johannes Aigner and Nico Haberl secured the bronze medal.
Simpson, 23, who was born with nystagmus—a condition causing involuntary eye movements—expressed his satisfaction with the performance: “I’m really chuffed with the performance, some good skiing on the second run and we carried out the plan we had.” He also emphasized the competitive nature of the visually impaired men’s category, acknowledging the difficulty in reaching the podium: “The visually impaired men’s [category] is really strong, there are lots of really quick guys in there so I’m pleased to get on the podium.”
Looking back, Simpson made history at the Beijing Winter Paralympics by becoming the first British man to win gold with his victory in the super G, guided by his brother Andrew. His current silver complements the bronze medal he earned in the alpine combined four years ago and surpasses his recent fourth-place finishes in both the downhill and super G events during these Games. For Poth, 28, this silver is a milestone as his first Paralympic medal in his debut Games. Reflecting on their result, Poth said, “I’m buzzing. For me it was a little bit of a relief, but our slalom is in a great place.” With upcoming competitions in giant slalom and slalom, both athletes remain optimistic, having clocked the fastest slalom run during the combined event—a promising sign for their future races. Simpson noted, “With the giant slalom, we feel pretty ready for that, and for the slalom, we’re feeling really good and hopefully we can do well,” while Poth added that their confidence continues to build as they aim for the top podium spot.
Elsewhere in the alpine combined, Great Britain’s Fred Warburton was unfortunately unable to continue after crashing during the super G, preventing him and his guide James Hannan from participating in the slalom. In the women’s visually impaired category, Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide Katie Guest placed ninth. Fitzpatrick is Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian with a collection of one gold, three silver, and two bronze medals from previous Games but has been recovering from a broken leg and an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained over the last 18 months. UK Sport has projected that the ParalympicsGB team could secure between two and five medals at this edition of the Games, following their haul of six medals in Beijing four years ago
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