Simpson and Poth pay price for ‘costly’ error

Britain’s Neil Simpson was left bitterly disappointed after he and guide Rob Poth failed to finish their opening giant slalom run in the men’s visually impaired event at the Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina.

The pair had come into Friday’s race full of confidence having won Alpine combined silver on Tuesday thanks to the fastest time in the slalom run.

They were setting the pace in the early stages of the giant slalom before taking the wrong line and missing a gate.

“There was some good skiing up to the time we made the error,” said Simpson, 23. “But it was a costly one.

“We’ve shown some good form and are feeling confident so we will just have to try to take the confidence from that into our final race.”

Simpson and Poth will finish their programme with the slalom on Sunday, the final day of the Games, as they chase a second medal.

“We know the performances are there in training and it is positive we were doing so well up to the mistake but that adds to the frustration,” added Poth.

On a day when rising temperatures and the snow quality tested all of the athletes, Britain’s Fred Warburton and guide James Hannon finished 13th with Warburton relieved to have competed both of his runs in his final event of his maiden Paralympics.

“Conditions were so variable so I was super pleased to get down,” said the 31-year-old.

“It was hard work and that field is exceptionally strong and it was a privilege to be part of, but we want more than that. It is just the beginning of our journey.”

Elsewhere, Nina Sparks created history as Britain’s first female snowboarder, finishing 10th in the women’s banked slalom LL2 (lower limb) event, which was won by American Kate Delson.

“It’s definitely not sunk in,” said Sparks. “It’s been a pretty crazy day.

“I’ve been working towards this for five years. I was watching Beijing saying ‘I’m going to be there at the next one. The next time there is a Paralympic banked slalom, I’m going to be racing it’.

“I just did it.”

Italian Emanuel Perathoner, a two-time Olympian before a serious knee injury, completed a double adding the men’s LL2 gold to the snowboard cross title he won on Sunday with Briton Ollie Hill seventh.

After crashing out of the snowboard cross, Scotland’s Davy Zyw, who is believed to be the first snowsport athlete with motor neurone disease to compete at the Winter Paralympics, finished 19th in the UL (upper limb) division with James Barnes-Miller 7th and Matt Hamilton 11th.