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Fearless Simpson brothers are changing the game in visually impaired skiing | Ade Adepitan
Neil Simpson is visually impaired and he and his brother have set the pace while Ukrainian athletes have led the way with their courage
When Neil Simpson set off on his gold medal-winning run in the men’s super-G, I remember looking at the start and thinking “… interesting”. Normally, when you watch visually impaired skiers there’s a connection: the guide goes off and the skier follows straight behind. But that’s not how Neil and his brother Andrew do it. When the bell goes Andrew just flies out. His approach is: I’m going to ski down this hill as fast as I can and you’ve got to catch me.
At the age of 19 and 21 it’s the exuberance and naivety of youth, perhaps. All they’re thinking about is how can they go as fast as possible. The idea of danger, of losing, none of that comes into their minds and that is the perfect combination of ingredients you need to be a successful athlete. That’s why their performance was absolutely brilliant to watch and such a staggering achievement. I don’t know whether they know it or not but the brothers may be changing the whole style of VI skiing. If they’re successful and they’re able to keep it going I would liken it to what Andre Agassi did in tennis: constantly aggressive, going for everything and leathering the fur off every ball. If they keep winning, other skiers will be looking at them thinking: this is what we have to do.
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