Neil Simpson is not setting any medal targets for the Paralympic Winter Games in Italy but says his history-making gold in 2022 shows he can "deliver in high-pressure environments".
Neil Simpson is not setting any medal targets for the Paralympic Winter Games in Italy but says his history-making gold in 2022 shows he can "deliver in high-pressure environments".
The 23-year-old topped the podium in the men's visually-impaired super-G skiing in Beijing, having been guided by his brother, Andrew.
In doing so, he became the first British male to win a Winter Games skiing gold medal.
"Immensely proud of that achievement given the level of British skiers that we have had over the years," the Aberdeenshire athlete told BBC Scotland.
Despite the magnitude of his success, which thrust him into the media spotlight, the modest Scot explains "day to day life hasn't really changed a huge amount".
However, his taste of glory gives Simpson belief that he can succeed again on the biggest stage.
"It does help with your confidence, of 'right, I can deliver when the pressure is on'," he said.
"Knowing we can deliver in those high-pressure environments like World Championships and the Paralympics, it definitely helps.
"Having that experience under our belts will be beneficial coming into these Games. It is not that first time, so that is pressure taken off as well."
With a title to defend, a lot of eyes will be on Simpson, Andrew and his other pilot, Rob Poth, when the Milan Cortina action gets under way in March.
"You might see it from the outside as us going in with more pressure, but for ourselves it has not changed anything," he said. "Ultimately, we are still competing against the same faces and we compete against them regularly anyway.
"It is just a larger competition and broadcast to more people.
"Our expectations are just to do with our performances. We don't try to measure ourselves against everyone else and set position-based targets, it is all about if we can perform to our best then see where we are."
Despite "mixed form" of late, Simpson insists there is plenty of cause for optimism.
"We had a World Cup win in December last year and then I had a lot of DNFs [did not finish]," he said. "Where we are just now in training, I am really confident with how we will do this upcoming season, but until the races start then you don't really know where you are going to be sitting.
"We are not setting any targets like medals or golds, silvers or bronze or anything like that. It is all just if our performances are up to the level we want them to be then that is good."
Category: General Sports
