Winter Paralympics 2026: Neil Simpson misses defense of super-G title with fourth place

Britain’s Neil Simpson said “a few mistakes” prevented him from defending his Paralympic super-G title when he finished fourth in Cortina.

Four years ago in Beijing, Simpson and his brother and mentor Andrew won the country’s only gold medal at the Games in the visually impaired super-G, a win that cemented him as the first British man to win gold at a Winter Paralympics.

This time, Rob Booth Simpson led after a late manual change, but after struggling in the middle section of the Tuvan piste, the British duo crossed the finish line 1.1 seconds off the podium.

“There was some good skating, so I’m very proud,” said the 23-year-old Simpson, who with Booth won the 2023 super-G world title. “There was just some good skating, so I’m very proud. Unfortunately, there was just a few mistakes.”

“In the section where there was aerobic time and longer jumps, I didn’t have a full line there, which just meant I didn’t have the speed over the flat area.”

Austria’s Johannes Aigner won gold for his second Paralympic title, having also won the downhill.

Simpson’s fellow Briton Fred Warburton finished twelfth with his co-driver James Hannan after a run he described as “part of the battle”.

The British duo will compete in three more events at the Milan-Cortina Games.

That starts with Tuesday’s Alpine Combined race – an event in which skiers compete on a super-G course and slalom.

“I did my best, unfortunately that wasn’t the case, but it’s something we have to learn from,” Simpson added.