BORMIO, Italy — 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, 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.
Pinheiro Braathen, 25, 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.”