Gold medallists Neil and Andrew Simpson
Paralympics GB’s medal tally climbed to three as Britain grabbed a gold and a silver in the Super-G on a day where British Paralympic history was made.
Neil Simpson, guided by his brother Andrew Simpson, became the first man to take a Winter Paralympic title with the performance of a lifetime in the Men’s Visually Impaired Super-G.
In a strong field, the Simpson brothers’ time of 1:08.91 blew the field away and was enough to see them home 0.40s ahead of Giacomo Bertagnolli in silver. For Andrew, it represents the second major medal of his career following silver in the Super Combined at the Para Snow Sports World Championships in Lillehammer.
Neil said: “I am just really thrilled. This is our first season doing Super-G. Initially when we came down and had gone in to first place, there was a bit of an anxious wait. I wasn’t thinking about it being a winning performance, I was just thinking that it was a good run.”
Menna Fitzpatrick becomes most decorated Winter ParalympicsGB athlete in history
Menna Fitzpatrick and guide Gary Smith took silver in the Women’s VI Super-G, behind Slovakia’s Alexandra Rexova. The pair’s time of 1:18.79 left them half a second clear of bronze medal position, and meant that Fitzpatrick now boasts five Paralympic medals, following the four she took home from the 2018 Games in PyeongChang. It made Menna Fitzpatrick the most decorated Winter ParalympicsGB athlete in history.
The 23-year-old , who comes from Macclesfield, and Guide Gary Smith took advantage of superb conditions at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
The medal was made even more special as Menna’s Guide Katie Guest was unable to travel to China because of a positive Covid test.
Menna said: “I am feeling absolutely amazing! I can’t quite believe it, we just wanted to build on the day before and we are super, super happy. Gary and I have trained quite a long time and have been building up the relationship and that really helped coming into this. I am super happy he is my guide I couldn’t wish for anything better!
“I am so happy to be the most decorated ParalympicsGB Winter athlete that is not what we came out to do today though, we went out to ski well, so to come out with a silver medal and a pretty amazing title as well means we are delighted.
“Just before the pandemic I broke my leg, Gary was guiding me at the time, and he was a great support during my rehab and to come through that and Covid as well make this really special.
Guide Gary Smith, from Luton, said: “I got a bit emotional with Menna at the finish line as it’s a really special moment I have known Menna since 2016 and she did brilliantly today.
Millie Knight and Brett Wild finished just off the podium in fourth place, with just 0.09s separating them from China’s Daqing Zhu who took the final spot on the podium.
In the Women’s Sitting classification, Shona Brownlee‘s Paralympic Winter Games debut saw her take sixth spot in a race won by the dominant Japanese sit-skier, Momoka Muraoka. In the final Alpine race of the day, James Whitley came in in 19th spot just over a second outside of the top-10.
Barnes Mill, Pick and Hill through to Snowboard Cross final
The qualifying rounds of the Snowboard Cross event saw James Barnes-Miller, Owen Pick and Ollie Hill all safely progress to the Finals, but Andy MacLeod was desperately unfortunate to finish just outside of the qualifying spots in the LL2 classification, coming in 17th with the top-16 progressing.
In the UL division, Barnes-Miller’s qualifying time was good enough for ninth spot, with the draw putting him into the first of the Quarter Finals to take place. Pick and Hill meanwhile took 11th and 12th in the LL2 division respectively and were drawn apart in the Quarter Finals, with Hill set for the second QF grouping and Pick the third.
Scott Meenagh followed up his first ever Paralympic top-10 finish from yesterday’s Biathlon Sprint with a 12th place in the Long-Distance Cross-Country competition. In a race dominated by the host nation, who took first, second and fourth spots, Meenagh’s time of 50:41.6 saw him miss out on consecutive top-10s by just 16.3s.
Categories: Racing