The parents of Banchory-born Paralympic brothers Neil and Andrew Simpson have said their boys have done “fantastically well” in Beijing – and praised the local coaches and facilities that got them to gold medal-winning standard.
Early on Monday morning, 19-year-old Neil and his 21-year-old brother and guide Andrew won a bronze to join the gold they took on Sunday at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
It was the first Winter Paralympic gold ever won by Team GB’s men, and only the third overall after Kelly Gallagher in 2014 and Menna Fitzpatrick in 2018.
Margaret and Robert Simpson recalled how their sons began skiing around the age of four, and how coaches such as Gary Whatford from the Gordon Skiers put them on the path to success.
Mrs Simpson told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland: “They started grassroots skiing in Scotland on a dry slope, then skiing at all the ski resorts round here like the Lecht, Glenshee and the Cairngorms.
“So they covered all that, and that’s how they got started. That’s how everyone else can do it as well, the grassroots way is the way to go.”
She added: “We could all ski together and go on family holidays together, and do something as a family together, that was what we wanted to do.
“It was really later – the boys were still skiing in Scottish and some international ski races too, but it was only when Neil decided he wanted to get classification, that was when it moved up a level.”
‘Heart skipped a few beats’ watching race
Mr Simpson said watching the speed at which his vision-impaired son – Neil was born with nystagmus, which causes involuntary eye movement – flies down the slope can be quite unnerving.
He said: “We went out to Norway in January to watch them in the World Champs, and I hadn’t seen them race for the last two years.
“Margaret has been going out to all the races with them. And when you saw them there, my heart skipped a few beats I think.”
He added: “They always said they wanted to get to the Paralympics, it was quite an honour when they were selected to go, and anything else is a real bonus – to get one medal.
“To get two is just amazing.”
‘Just a little niggling thought’
The family was not anticipating Paralympic success at this scale – though Mrs Simpson admitted she did consider the possibility.
She said: “We had just a little niggling thought that it would be fantastic if they could get any sort of medal, it would be amazing for them.
“And it was just a case of, if everything went their way on that race day, and unfortunately that’s when other people make mistakes.
“So it was fingers crossed it would go the right way, and they’ve just pulled it out of the bag.
“They’ve done fantastically well, some people haven’t had good races and we’ve had really good races, so it’s worked for them.”
Next up for Neil and Andrew are the giant slalom and slalom events, which will be taking place on Thursday and Sunday.
