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, 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 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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