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02/14 08:03 CST Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wins giant slalom, earns South
America's 1st medal at Winter Games
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wins giant slalom, earns South America's 1st
medal at Winter Games
By PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writer
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
