Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen gained South America’s first Winter Olympics gold medal. Now he is going for a second.
The 25-year-old takes on the boys’s slalom occasion on Monday. It’s going to be a showdown between two pals and two racers who have been members of the identical ski membership as children.
There’s after all Pinheiro Braathen, who as soon as raced for Norway, however now skies for Brazil. He’s going for a second gold. There’s additionally his buddy Atle Lie McGrath of Norway.
They have been teammates as children in Norway. They’re 1-2 within the standings on the World Cup circuit within the slalom. McGrath is racing with a heavy coronary heart. He misplaced his grandfather on the day of the opening ceremonies.
watch males’s slalom
Slalom is the shortest of the alpine snowboarding occasions, often accomplished in beneath one minutes. Skiers weave by a collection of gates down the course hoping to achieve the end line within the quickest time.
Slalom snowboarding consists of two runs on two completely different programs. The winner has the quickest mixed time.
The lads’s occasion begins Monday with Run 1 scheduled at 4 a.m. ET and the second and remaining run at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Making historical past
As soon as a racer for Norway, Pinheiro Braathen switched to Brazil, his mom’s dwelling nation, and with two highly effective runs Saturday to win the Olympic large slalom he earned the excellence of selecting up South America’s first medal at a Winter Video games.
“I’ve tried over and over to place phrases into what it’s that I’m feeling,” Pinheiro Braathen stated. “But it surely’s merely inconceivable.”
With snow falling and fog settling in on the ultimate run, the 25-year-old Pinheiro Braathen remained cool and relaxed as he navigated his means by the technical Stelvio course. After seeing his place — No. 1 — he simply stared. When it lastly sank in, he fell to the snow earlier than beginning to scream.
He completed in a two-run mixed time of two 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 household the place his mom is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He began racing for Norway till abruptly retiring earlier than the 2023 season, solely to return a 12 months later representing Brazil.
He’s already achieved loads of firsts together with his new nation: First Brazilian Alpine racer to complete on a World Cup podium final 12 months and first World Cup win for the nation this season.
Now, he’s the primary Olympian from the South American continent to convey dwelling a winter medal.
