Brazil's gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen celebrates on the podium of the men's giant slalom alpine skiing event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has made South American sporting history as his samba skiing propelled him to a stunning Olympic giant slalom gold in a driving blizzard.
No athlete from the continent had ever won a medal of any colour at the Winter Games, but the 25-year-old put that right with two incredible runs down the Stelvio course to hold off Swiss Marco Odermatt by 0.58 seconds.
"I was skiing completely according to my intuition and my heart today, and that's what enabled me to become an Olympic champ," Pinheiro Braathen, who switched allegiance from Norway to Brazil in 2004 after briefly quitting, said.
"It had nothing to do with the medal. It had nothing to do with the history that I had the potential of writing.
"I just wanted to ski as the person I am. I know I can be the best in the world if I do that to the greatest extent."
The Norway-born slalom showman opened up a massive 0.95-second lead over Odermatt in a masterful first run in which only seven skiers were within two seconds of him.
Only a crash or an extraordinary Odermatt surge looked like it could deny him gold in the second as the weather closed in.
Reigning giant slalom champion Odermatt cranked up the pressure with a searing second run to take the lead, leaving last man Pinheiro Braathen 54 gates from glory.
After pushing out of the start gate in his silver helmet, Pinheiro Braathen leaked away some of his advantage with a few ragged turns, but he avoided anything too damaging to hold on to the gold medal.
After crossing the line, Pinheiro Braathen collapsed to the snow before getting up again and holding his skis aloft to the roaring grandstand, where a smattering of Brazilian fans acclaimed one of the football-mad country's most unlikely sporting heroes.
He then sought out his Norwegian father, Bjorn, who introduced him to the sport as a young boy, for a long embrace before breaking into his trademark samba dance celebration.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, congratulated Pinheiro Braathen on his win in a post on X.
"This unprecedented result shows that Brazilian sport has no limits," Lula said.
For Odermatt, the champion in Beijing, it means he returns home without a gold medal, having arrived in Bormio as the favourite to win multiple titles. He missed the downhill podium, coming fourth, before winning a silver in team combined and a bronze in super-G.
Only three years ago, Pinheiro Braathen stunned those in his sport by quitting after being crowned World Cup champion in slalom that year following a fallout with the Norwegian federation.
Opening up in a documentary, "Lucas Pinheiro Braathen: On My Terms", he said skiing was making him miserable.
But he rediscovered the joy after returning to the colours of his mother's country of birth in 2024, and this season became Brazil's first winner of a World Cup race.
All that pales into insignificance compared with what he achieved on Saturday, however, four years after a miserable Olympic debut when he failed to finish either the giant slalom or slalom.
Pinheiro Braathen's victory also stopped the Swiss sweep after all three of the gold medals so far in the men's Alpine programme had gone to Franjo von Allmen.
- Reuters
