The long-term head coach of Banchory-born Paralympic double medal winning brothers Neil and Andrew Simpson has hailed their determination to excel on the ski slopes.
Neil, who is visually impaired and is guided by his brother Andrew, created history on Sunday when he became the first British male to win Paralympic gold on snow.
The triumph in the Super-G at the Beijing Games was followed by a bronze in the super combined event on Monday.
Neil, who is 19, and 21-year-old Andrew have both skied since the age of four, initially learning at the Garthdee dry ski slope in Aberdeen.
Three years later, the pair joined the Gordon Skiers in Alford, where they continued their development under vastly-experienced head coach Gary Whatford.
Neil has nystagmus, which causes involuntary eye movement, which prompted him to become classified to compete in Paralympic events.
Whatford says the double medal haul at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre is the culmination of his continued determination to take his sight issues in his stride.
Whatford said: “Neil must have been seven or eight when I first came across him, about 12 years ago.
“The brothers are so competitive with each other.
“Andrew is a fantastic skier and has always been very talented.
“Neil is an amazing skier as well, but we recognised early on there were extra challenges to deal with.
“He would ski very close to other skiers to the point where it got quite dangerous.
“He’s just got such a determination, you can’t keep the guy down.
“We started looking at what we could do to make it better. We got brightly coloured race skates when he was skiing, but it didn’t make any difference to him.
“He could ski in poor visibility every bit as well as he could ski in fantastic visibility.
“We knew his vision was bad and we were in the process of getting him categorised for the Paralympics.
“I remember a time at the British Championship in 2016 or 2017 when the weather got bad, and the visibility was terrible.
“Neil was over the moon because he can’t see in bright sunlight – and he said ‘now everyone gets to ski it like me.’
“It was fantastic to hear him say that.”
‘We didn’t realise how bad his eyesight was’
Mother Margaret says the family were unaware of the severity of Neil’s visual impairment until he went about securing his Paralympic classification.
She said: “Neil decided to get classified. We all knew he had a visual problem, but it wasn’t until he got classified that we actually found out how bad his eyesight was.
“We didn’t realise it was as bad as it was.
“Even at times when Andrew hasn’t managed to be out, Neil always preferred being guided by Andrew, who is very good technically.
⛷ #ParaAlpine ⛷
🗣️ "right, left, right, left"
Would you ski down the mountains trusting your sighted guide? BTW, these are 👇"The Simpsons": Neil Simpson and Andrew Simpson. They're brothers 👬🇬🇧
#ParaSnowSports #Lillehammer2021 @Paralympics @GBSnowsport @ParalympicGB pic.twitter.com/lwuAQDdLGg— #ParaSnowSports (@ParaSnowSports) January 17, 2022
Father Robert says the brothers’ medal success exceeded expectations that were set prior to travelling to their first Games.
He said: “We were proud at them being selected to go to the tournament. You were always hoping they might get a medal, but we thought the chances were probably quite slim.
“To get the gold is a dream come true.
“When they did their course inspection, I think they decided they would just go for it and see what happens.
“In any sport you need a bit of luck.”
Medal success an inspiration for young skiers in north-east
Around 65 skiers are attached to Gordon who use the 55-metre slope at Alford, with Torphins Olympian Alex Tilley among them.
Whatford has described the Simpson brothers’ medal success as “without a doubt, the proudest moment in the club’s history.”
He added: “In terms of success stories and challenge stories, my goodness.
“I was bubbling like a baby on Sunday when I got that news.
“The two guys have worked so hard and it’s not just them – their mum and dad have literally gone around the planet with them.
“They have been behind them all the way.”
