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Paralympics Round-Up Day 2: Super Simpsons take Super-G title, Fitzpatrick grabs silver

Paralympics Round-Up Day 2: Super Simpsons take Super-G title, Fitzpatrick grabs silver

Neil and Andrew Simpson made British Paralympic history in the Super-G, while Menna Fitzpatrick took her Paralympic medal total to five with her first of the Beijing Games

Simpson and Fitzpatrick in the medals

ParalympicsGB’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 which saw only 0.83s between the podium places, 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 the 19-year-old, it represents the second major medal of his career following silver in the Super Combined at the Para Snow Sports World Championships in Lillehammer and an astonishing way to announce himself on the world stage.

Speaking afterwards, Neil Simpson said:

“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. There was a sketchy moment coming into the bowl but we knew we needed to get back on it and really went for it down the bowl, so I’m really happy with that.  

“Yesterday gave us a good boost for today – we went out with some clear goals and achieved them. We knew what we wanted to do today, come out with the same attitude and I think we did that well. I could tell it was quick but I didn’t know how special it was.

Earlier in the night, 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.

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.

YANQING, CHINA – MARCH 06: Menna Fitzpatrick reacts in the Para Alpine Skiing Women’s Super-G Vision Impaired during day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre on March 06, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Barnes-Miller, Pick and Hill progress in Snowboard Cross

The qualifying rounds of the Snowboard Cross event saw James Barnes-Miller, Owen Pick and Ollie Hill all safely progress to tomorrow’s 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 tomorrow morning. 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.

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA – MARCH 06: Owen Pick competes during the Men’s Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 Qualification during day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at on March 06, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Meenagh 12th in Long-Distance XC

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.

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA – MARCH 06: Scott Meenagh competes in the Para Cross-Country Skiing during day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at on March 06, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Header Image: YANQING, CHINA – MARCH 06: Neil Simpson celebrates gold with guide and brother Andrew Simpson in the Para Alpine Skiing Men’s Super-G Vision Impaired during day two of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics at on March 06, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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