Winter Paralympics: Neil Simpson and brother Andrew win super-G gold in Beijing

Great Britain's Neil Simpson put in the performance of his life to clinch Paralympic gold in the men's visually-impaired super-G event in Beijing.

The 19-year-old Scot, guided by brother Andrew, is GB's third-ever Winter Games gold medallist, after Kelly Gallagher in 2014 and Menna Fitzpatrick in 2018.

The siblings finished 0.40 seconds clear of Italy's Giacomo Bertagnolli.

It was the second medal of the day for Britain after Fitzpatrick and Gary Smith took silver in the women's race.

The Simpsons, from Banchory, who are both making their Paralympic debuts, had finished seventh in Saturday's opening downhill.

And after first Austria's Johannes Aigner, the downhill champion, and then Bertagnolli had set good times to sit at the top of the standings, the pressure was on the brothers.

But they started their run well and were fastest at the second intermediate. Although they dropped to second at the next checkpoint, they finished strongly to take the lead and the remaining skiers were unable to challenge.

Earlier, Fitzpatrick, 23, said she was «proud» as she won the fifth Paralympic medal of her career, cementing her place as the nation's most successful Winter Paralympian.

Fitzpatrick has had a challenging build-up to the Games, recovering from a broken leg in March 2020, while her new guide Katie Guest, who took over the role after Jen Kehoe retired to focus on her Army duties, was ruled out of the Games after a positive Covid test prior to her scheduled departure.

It meant she was guided by Smith, who she had worked with in the 2019-20 season, and the pair were a solid fifth in the downhill on Saturday.

«To be here at all is a great achievement, but then to stand up on that podium is absolutely amazing,» she said. «I'm so proud of