Brazil’s Pinheiro Braathen wins giant slalom, earns South America’s 1st medal at Winter Games
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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 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.
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen captures gold with his first-place result in the men’s giant slalom at Milano Cortina 2026. It’s the first-ever medal for a South American country at the Olympic Winter Games.
He finished in a two-run combined time of two minutes 25 seconds. He beat Swiss racer Marco Odermatt, the defending Olympic champion, by 0.58 seconds. Odermatt’s teammate, Loic Meillard, earned bronze position.
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.”
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