There will have been an audible sigh of relief for the British contingent as Neil Simpson claimed ParalympicsGB’s first medal of the 2026 Winter Paralympics in the alpine combined. The 23-year-old Scot claimed silver alongside Rob Poth to end Great Britain's agonising wait for a podium at Milano Cortina 2026.

Simpson had already come close with two fourth-place finishes in Italy but finally earned his medal after delivering the quickest time in the event’s slalom component. He sat in fourth place after the Super-G run in the morning, just 0.57 seconds outside the podium places, and laid down a brilliant slalom to jump two places and win silver in 1:57.07.

It put him just 0.65 seconds off gold and completes his Winter Paralympic medal set, having won bronze in the same event in Beijing 2022, as well as gold in the Super-G. “I’m really chuffed with the performance. [There was] some good skiing on the second run and we carried out the plan we had from course inspection,” said Simpson.

• ITV forced into apology amid Keir Starmer chant during Luke Littler UK Open final


• Kylian Mbappe complaint about Real Madrid staff, doctor disagreement and club leak

“It was technically good solid skiing, that was the plan from inspection, and we carried that out quite well. The visually impaired men’s is really strong and there’s lots of really great guys in there so really pleased to get onto the podium.”

Simpson leapfrogged Austria’s Johannes Aigner, who had won gold in the men’s Super-G on Monday, as well as Canada’s Kalle Ericsson who had claimed bronze in the event. And with alpine combined requiring athletes to run in both the Super-G and slalom, it bodes well for Simpson’s remaining slalom and giant slalom events as he put down an event-best 42.52s on Tuesday.

“With the giant slalom, we feel pretty ready for that and then after today for the slalom, we’re feeling really good and hopefully we can do well in the two remaining events,” he said.

It marked guide Rob Poth’s first Paralympic medal, after joining Simpson’s team to guide him in the more technical events. And the partnership appears to be paying dividends, with Poth’s background as a specialist in the slalom event already delivering results with two more races to come.

“I’m buzzing with it to be honest. For me, it was a little bit of a relief, but I think our slalom is in a great place and we won that run,” said the 28-year-old from Potters Bar. Knowing we have that in the back of our mind, we can definitely use that for some confidence for the slalom. We’re building up the confidence. That’s definitely taken it up another notch and we’re getting closer and closer to that top step. We’re on a high and hopefully we can continue on that trajectory.”

With a medal in the bank, ParalympicsGB will hope the rest of the team will follow suit having struggled to deliver so far in the Dolomites. Fred Warburton had run in the same event as Simpson alongside guide James Hannan but did not finish after hitting a rut in the piste at turn five on the Super-G.

And while Menna Fitzpatrick continues to build fitness with her guide Katie Guest after returning from an ACL, she looked far off the pace in the women’s alpine combined VI, finishing bottom in 2:20.88. “It’s a really good team to be part of. There are some amazing athletes so hopefully that kicks our team on, and we can move up the medal table,” rallied Simpson.

Though it might take more than that to bring the mixed team wheelchair curlers back into medal contention after they lost a fourth consecutive round robin match to host nation Italy.

Discover Every Body Moves powered by Toyota, ParalympicsGB’s inclusive activity finder. Empowering disabled people to find ways to become more active locally or at home and inviting providers to promote more inclusive sessions across the UK. Find out more at everybodymoves.org.uk .