Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won South America’s first Winter Olympics gold medal. Now he’s going for a second.
The 25-year-old takes on the men’s slalom event on Monday. It’s going to be a showdown between two friends and two racers who were members of the same ski club as kids.
There is of course Pinheiro Braathen, who once raced for Norway, but now skies for Brazil. He’s going for a second gold. There’s also his friend Atle Lie McGrath of Norway.
They were teammates as kids in Norway. They are 1-2 in the standings on the World Cup circuit in the slalom. McGrath is racing with a heavy heart. He lost his grandfather on the day of the opening ceremonies.
How to watch men’s slalom
Slalom is the shortest of the alpine skiing events, usually completed in under one minutes. Skiers weave through a series of gates down the course hoping to reach the finish line in the fastest time.
Slalom skiing includes two runs on two different courses. The winner has the fastest combined time.
The men’s event starts Monday with Run 1 scheduled at 4 a.m. ET and the second and final run at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Making history
Once a racer for Norway, Pinheiro Braathen switched to Brazil, his mother’s home country, and with two powerful runs Saturday to win the Olympic giant slalom he earned the distinction of picking up South America’s first medal at a Winter Games.
“I’ve tried over and over again to put words into what it is that I’m feeling,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “But it’s simply impossible.”
With snow falling and fog settling in on the final run, 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 just stared. When it finally sank in, he fell to the snow before starting to scream.
He finished in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 25 seconds to beat Swiss racer Marco Odermatt, the defending Olympic champion, by 0.58 seconds. Odermatt’s teammate, Loic Meillard, earned bronze.
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 World Cup win for the country this season.
Now, he’s the first Olympian from the South American continent to bring home a winter medal.
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