Neil Simpson won GB’s first gold medal in the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Spain. With that amazing achievement 20 year old Neil, became the first British male athlete to win a gold on the slopes this year.
With his guide Rob Poth, they completed the course in 56.66 at the event in Espot to finish just 0.02secs ahead of Austrian Johannes Aigner. The bronze medal went to Italian Giacomo Bertagnolli.
The action will continue in Spain through to the end of the weekend. The men’s and women’s super-G competitions were delayed after nearly four days of waiting for good weather conditions. The first race of the World Championships was finally staged on Monday 23rd January 2023.
The Get Kids Going! supported athlete received his first gold in the world championships. It follows up his super combined silver at the world’s event in Lillehammer last year, and his amazing super G gold and super combined bronze at 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics.
On receiving his Winter Paralympics medal Neil spoke about skiing with his brother, “It’s very special, we’ve been skiing together for quite a while, and growing up together, it just makes it really special.
“For me it definitely helps having Andrew with me, you are able to be very clear and concise in what you want – even direct and blunt sometimes, so you can get feedback across a lot easier. You don’t have to beat around the bush so that definitely helps, we grew up together so we know what each other is thinking anyway.”
In December Neil was named Scottish Sportsperson of the Year and Scottish Para Athlete of the Year.
He said “Absolutely over the moon to be named both Scottish sportsperson of the year and Scottish Para Athlete of the year, along with Andrew. I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who has helped us get to this stage both from Sport Scotland and GB Snowpsort. After such an amazing year for Scottish sport, with many world class athletes being nominated it’s a huge honour to be recognised with both of these awards.”
Meanwhile, Get Kids Going! supported athlete Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide Katie Guest came fourth in the women’s visually-impaired super G race at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships on Monday. However, she then went on to win silver and bronze at two more events in the championships. Find out more in our post on Menna Fitzpatrick at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships.
Watch out for more of our coverage of the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships and visit our homepage to find out more about the Get Kids Going! skiing and snowboarding athletes.