Neil Simpson celebrates landmark gold for Great Britain at Winter Paralympics

Neil Simpson won Great Britain’s first gold medal at the Beijing Paralympics in the men’s Super-G vision-impaired class and then hailed sharing the “special” moment with guide and brother Andrew.

Scotland’s Simpson brothers finished nearly half a second clear of the field to top the podium on their Paralympics debut, with 19-year-old Neil becoming the first British male athlete to win gold on snow.

Menna Fitzpatrick followed up the Simpsons’ triumph, claiming silver in the women’s Super-G vision-impaired to become Britain’s most successful Winter Paralympian with five medals.

Neil Simpson admitted his shock at winning gold before explaining the importance of straight-talking with Andrew.

Asked about sharing the winning moment with his brother, Neil Simpson said: “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.

“I am just really thrilled, it’s not really sunk in yet. This is our first season doing Super-G.

“Initially when we came down and Andrew said we 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.

“We put it all down on the line and really went for it and I’m just very happy with the performance – it felt good.”

The Simpsons prevailed with a time of one minute 08.91 seconds to blow away the competition on their