Great Britain secured their first medal of the Winter Paralympics on Tuesday as Neil Simpson claimed silver in the men's visually impaired alpine combined. The 23-year-old, guided by Rob Poth, finished behind home favourite Giacomo Bertagnolli but ahead of Austria's Johannes Aigner, who has won two gold medals at these Games.
Simpson's performance came after three days of near-misses for ParalympicsGB, including his own fourth-place finish in the downhill on Monday. The skier delivered a leading time in the final slalom run to climb from fourth to second. 'It was just technically good, solid skiing,' Simpson said. 'The visually impaired classification is really strong. We're very pleased to get on to the podium.'
The silver medal provides a boost for the British team, with Simpson and Poth now focusing on two remaining slalom events. 'Run by run we're building up the confidence,' Poth said. 'We're getting closer to that top step.' The pair will enjoy a day off before returning to training.
Elsewhere, Britain's mixed curling team lost 8-6 to Italy, leaving them with just one win in six matches and in ninth place in the round-robin standings.
