Banchory brothers Neil and Andrew Simpson have claimed bronze in the Super Combined Vision Impaired Alpine Skiing, less than 24 hours after winning Great Britain’s first male Winter Paralympics gold.
Neil, 19, and his guide Andrew finished third on Monday morning behind Austria’s Johannes Aigner and Italian Giacomo Bertagnolli, who took the top spot at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
On Sunday, the Simpson brothers pair beat Bertagnolli to first in the Super-G category to claim only the third British Paralympics gold on snow, following Kelly Gallagher in 2014 and Menna Fitzpatrick in 2018.
The Chinese games are the first for the Aberdeenshire brothers.
It's another medal for Neil and Andrew Simpson, this time a bronze in the Para Alpine Skiing – Super Combined. Not a bad debut Games for the brothers.
And it makes it three medals for the #ScotsOnParalympicsGB at the #Beijing2022 #WinterParalympics pic.twitter.com/ggM7yWqVpX— sportscotland (@sportscotland) March 7, 2022
Mike Whittingham, the director of high performance at sportscotland, said: “To win a second medal of their debut Games is a remarkable achievement for Neil and Andrew Simpson.
“They have worked incredibly hard for these moments and they deserve huge credit for their performances under real pressure. Congratulations to them both.”
Neil competes in the B3 classification category after being born with nystagmus – a condition that causes involuntary eye movement.
After yesterday’s victory, he said competing alongside his brother made the moment “very special”.
He added: “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.”
Andrew added: “If either of us make a mistake it could end up injuring both of us, so trust is very important.
“I’m absolutely delighted, [the gold medal is] something I never thought was going to happen when we first started this at all.
“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 want and need.”
