Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wins South America’s 1st ever Winter Games medal

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — There was dancing, loads of dancing, for Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen as he carried out samba steps time and again. To no actual music, both.

There had been feelings, too, particularly once they performed his nationwide anthem. And reflection, for understanding what this second meant now and will imply later.

Once a racer for Norway, Pinheiro Braathen switched to Brazil, his mom’s residence nation, and with two highly effective runs Saturday to win the Olympic big slalom he earned the excellence of choosing 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 stated. “But it’s simply impossible.”

He gave his nation one more reason to have a good time even when it already simply so occurred to be Carnival season. The fun-loving, samba-dancing skier had the proper helmet for the event, too, stenciling on the again “Vamos Dancar” — “Let’s Dance.”

He did a rhythmic quantity within the first run that gave him a 0.95-second edge.

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 method via 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.

“It’s a moment that’s hard to grasp, even though it’s crystal clear that you are officially the Olympic champion,” Pinheiro Braathen defined. “Even though I had such faith and I knew that this was written for me, it is still so incredible to live that dream turned reality. I couldn’t quite grasp it.”

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 yr later representing Brazil.

He’s already completed loads of firsts along with his new nation: First Brazilian Alpine racer to complete on a World Cup podium final yr and first World Cup win for the nation this season.

Now, he’s the primary Olympian from the South American continent to carry residence a winter medal.

“The emotions that I’m feeling right now is an internal sun inside of me that is shining so, so bright and toward so many people,” he stated. “I was skiing with my heart, and when you ski the way you are, anything is possible. The only thing that matters to me is that I remain who I am. I am a Brazilian skier who became an Olympic champion.”

That’s why he bought so choked up listening to his nation’s anthem on the rostrum. Brazil has taken a part of each version of the Winter Olympics since 1992. The nation’s greatest end result till Pinheiro Braathen’s gold medal was ninth place in girls’s snowboarding in 2006 with Isabel Clark.

“Being the reason that I get to hear and share that song in a stadium in the middle of mountains, because of a Winter Olympic gold medal for these colors, I’m beyond proud,” Pinheiro Braathen stated.

He gave a shoutout to the Norwegian Ski Federation as properly.

“I don’t have any hate or bad feelings about what has happened,” he stated. “I’m just thankful, because it’s our differences in our perspectives that have forced me to confront myself to follow my own dream. And it was that heart, and that strength, that brought me to the top of the Olympics.”

It was one other medal for Odermatt on the Milan Cortina Games. He additionally gained silver within the workforce mixed occasion, the place he partnered with Meillard, and bronze within the super-G.

“Three medals,” Odermatt stated, “is amazing.”

Odermatt was requested about seeing a Brazilian on high of the Olympic podium and its significance: “For me, it doesn’t represent anything. He did his whole education in Norway. He just switched to Brazil now, so I don’t care about this. But he’s an amazing skier, and I have respect for him as an athlete.”

Atle Lie McGrath of Norway completed fifth. He has recognized Pinheiro Braathen since they started racing collectively as youngsters for his or her ski membership.

“We shared a nice hug over there,” stated McGrath, who wore a black armband in tribute to his late grandfather. “I’m really proud of him.”

In Milan, Pinheiro Braathen’s followers, decked out in inexperienced and yellow, crowded into “Casa Brasil.” They cheered for the whole thing of his run, screaming and leaping to their toes as soon as he completed. The sound system blared “We Are The Champions” earlier than enjoying samba-infused songs for everybody to bounce to.

For Pinheiro Braathen, it’s laborious for him to think about how he might be perceived now that he’s gained gold for Brazil. He’s keen to seek out out.

“I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve read through from the day I started representing Brazil until becoming an Olympic champion today that has been along the lines of, ‘I have no idea of what’s going on, but let’s go Brazil. Let’s go Lucas,’” Pinheiro Braathen recounted. “I think it’s that unconditional love and support from the Brazilians, even though we’re still in this journey of introducing ski racing to Brazil, that I really brought with me today and allowed me to ski as fast as I did.”

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Associated Press Writers Stefanie Dazio in Milan and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.

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