Simpson and guide Poth win Paralympic silver for GB

Neil Simpson and his guide Rob Poth won Great Britain's first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics with silver in the alpine combined.

It is a third Paralympic medal overall for the visually impaired skier, who had recorded two fourth-place finishes earlier in these Games.

In the alpine combined, skiers complete a run of both the super G and slalom, with their factored times combined to determine the final standings.

Simpson and Poth had sat in fourth after the morning's super G on the iconic Tofane piste, 0.57 seconds short of third place.

But in the afternoon's slalom, they recorded the fastest time to move up two places as Canada’s Kalle Ericsson and his guide Sierra Smith fell out of contention.

Italy's Giacomo Bertagnolli and guide Andrea Ravelli defended their title from 2022, finishing 0.65 seconds ahead of Simpson and Poth overall, while Austria's Johannes Aigner and Nico Haberl won bronze.

"I'm really chuffed with the performance, some good skiing on the second run and we carried out the plan we had," said 23-year-old Simpson, who was born with nystagmus - a condition that causes involuntary eye movements.

"The visually impaired men's [category] is really strong, there are lots of really quick guys in there so I'm pleased to get on the podium."

Four years ago, Simpson, guided by his brother Andrew, won GB's only gold of the Beijing Games with victory in the super G, a win that cemented him as the first British man to win gold at a Winter Paralympics.

His medal at Milan-Cortina adds to the bronze he won in the alpine combined at the last Games, while it improves on the fourth-place finishes he recorded in both the downhill with his brother and super G with Poth in recent days.

For Poth, 28, it is a first Paralympic medal at his maiden Games.

"I'm buzzing. For me it was a little bit of a relief, but our slalom is in a great place," he said.

Simpson and Poth have two further chances of medals at these Games, in Friday's giant slalom and Sunday's slalom.

That they set the fastest time in the slalom run of the alpine combined, crossing the line in 42.52 seconds, one-tenth of a second quicker than the next fastest run, bodes well for both events.

"With the giant slalom, we feel pretty ready for that, and for the slalom, we're feeling really good and hopefully we can do well," said Simpson.

Poth added: "Run by run, we are building up the confidence, that has definitely taken it up a notch and we're getting closer to that top step.

"We're on a high and hopefully we can continue on that trajectory."

Earlier in the day, GB's Fred Warburton crashed out of the super G run in the same event as Simpson and Poth, meaning he and his guide James Hannan could not progress to the slalom.

In the women's visually impaired event, Britain's most decorated Winter Paralympian Menna Fitzpatrick and her guide Katie Guest finished ninth.

Fitzpatrick, who has won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals in two previous Games, is still on the comeback trail from injury having broken her leg and sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury within the past 18 months.

UK Sport believes the ParalympicsGB team can win between two and five medals at these Games, having won six four years ago in Beijing.