BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen turned in a powerful final run to win the Olympic giant slalom Saturday and earn South America’s first medal at a Winter Games.
The race isn’t quite official yet, though, with dozens of lower-tier racers still to take the course. But he's the leader after the top 30 fastest from the first run.
With snow falling and fog settling in, the 25-year-old Pinheiro Braathen remained cool and relaxed
as he navigated his way through the technical Stelvio course. After seeing his place — No. 1 — he fell to the snow before starting to scream.
He finished in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 25 seconds. He beat Swiss racer Marco Odermatt, the defending Olympic champion, by 0.58 seconds. Odermatt's teammate, Loic Meillard, earned bronze.
Pinheiro Braathen is the fun-loving, samba-dancing skier who’s ready to get this party started. On the back of his helmet, he has in big letters “Vamos Dancar” — “Let’s Dance.”
Fittingly enough, it’s Carnival season, too, a festival of parades, masquerades and partying made famous in places such as Brazil.
There's plenty to celebrate because, “Brazil is an Olympic champion in Alpine skiing,” he said.
Pinheiro Braathen comes from a family where his mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He started racing for Norway until abruptly retiring before the 2023 season, only to return a year later representing Brazil.
He’s already accomplished plenty of “firsts” with his new country: First Brazilian Alpine racer to finish on a World Cup podium last year and first ever World Cup win for the country this season.
Now, first Brazilian gold medalist.
In Milan, Braathen’s fans, decked out in green and yellow, crowded into “Casa Brasil.” They cheered for the entirety of his run, screaming and jumping to their feet once he finished. The sound system blared “We Are The Champions” before playing samba-infused songs for everyone to dance to.
He remains a popular figure, with one spectator wearing a “Lucas Fan Club” T-shirt at the Brazil House, while another clutched a sign declaring “I’m a fan of Lucas.”
It’s another medal at the Milan Cortina Games for the 28-year-old Odermatt. He added this to the silver in the team event, where he partnered with Meillard, and bronze in the super-G.
Atle Lie McGrath of Norway wore a black armband in remembrance of his grandfather, who died on the day of the opening ceremony. He finished fifth.
___
Associated Press Writer Stefanie Dazio in Milan contributed to this report
___
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing and AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
