Para alpine skiing is settled by the finest of margins, but falling on the wrong side of them can feel particularly cruel. Such was the case for Neil Simpson, who had to settle for a second agonising fourth-place finish at Milano Cortina 2026 as he failed to defend his super-G VI Paralympic title.
The 23-year-old visually impaired skier had taken a shock gold in the event four years ago but finished 1.1 seconds off the podium in Italy. It put him just 2.4 seconds away from the title he had earned at Beijing 2022, with the top three separated by 1.3 seconds, in an event that punishes even the smallest of mistakes.
“There was some good skiing so I am pretty proud of some of that skiing. Unfortunately, a couple of mistakes, but it’s something to work on,” said Simpson. “The section where there are a little more airtime and jumps, I didn’t quite have the line there. That just meant I didn’t have quite the speed coming over the flat.”
It marked the first time Simpson had competed alongside guide Rob Poth at a Paralympic Games. The Scot had won gold in the event alongside his brother Andrew Simpson in China, and retained his services for his opening downhill event, with Poth guiding him for the more technical events. Despite the change in guide, it was another fourth-place finish to the same top three as Austrian Johannes Aigner claimed a second gold.
For Menna Fitzpatrick, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in December 2025, just getting to the start gate felt like a triumph. The visually impaired skier is the most decorated British athlete in Winter Paralympic history but has been plagued by injury over a frustrating two-year lead-up to her third Games. Opting against surgery, she made it back alongside guide Katie Guest to finish sixth in the super-G, in a time of 1:25.52.
“It’s so lovely to be out here finally after the last two seasons of being injured. But I had a lot of fun, and I’ve got great confidence in the knee itself,” said Fitzpatrick. “Just the girls are skiing really, really well and they’re really pushing the competition, but we’ll slowly get closer and closer. Fingers crossed.” With three more events ahead, Fitzpatrick is confident she can build form and target adding to her six-strong medal total.
