Lucas Pinheiro Braathen became the first South American to win a Winter Olympics medal after he earned gold during Saturday’s men’s giant slalom.
The 25-year-old Pinheiro Braathen, who is ranked second in the world in slalom and giant slalom, recorded a combined time of 2:25.00, 0.58 better than 2022 gold medalist Marco Odermatt to win the event.
“I just wanted to share this with everyone watching in Brazil, following me, cheering for me,” Pinheiro Braathen told TV Globo. “This can be a point of inspiration for the next generation of children, showing them that nothing is impossible. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. What matters is what’s inside. What the heart does. I bring Brazilian strength today to bring this flag to the podium. This is Brazil’s.”
Born to a Norwegian father and Brazilian mother, Pinheiro Braathen began his career representing Norway where he won five World Cup slalom and giant slalom races, while making 12 podiums. He competed at the 2022 Beijing Olympics in the slalom and giant slalom, but did not finish either event.
Brazil’s gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen leaps onto the podium flanked by Switzerland’s silver medalist Marco Odermatt, and Switzerland’s bronze medalist Loic Meillard during the podium of the men’s giant slalom alpine skiing event during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)
(FABRICE COFFRINI via Getty Images)
After abruptly retiring in October 2023, Pinheiro Braathen returned to competition five months later representing Brazil. He has one World Cup victory and now made 11 podiums since switching to Brazil ahead of the Milan Cortina Olympics.
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Following his parents’ divorce when he was 3 years old, Pinheiro Braathen lived with his mother in Brazil before moving to Norway to live with his father when he got older.
“I was introduced to sports in the streets of São Paulo, playing with my neighbors, my family, my friends. I fell in love with sports over there,” Pinheiro Braathen said in 2024. “To be able to come full circle and to be able to represent [Brazil] in a World Cup of a sport, it truly means a lot. To be able to bring the dance to the snow is what I’m seeking to do.”
Pinheiro Braathen, who was one of Brazil’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony, is now an Olympic history maker and joins previous athletes from his country such as Isadora Williams, who became the first Brazilian and South American in the women’s figure skating final at the 2018 Olympics; five-time Olympic cross-country skier Jaqueline Mourão; and bobsledder Eric Maleson.
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“Norway taught me how to be an athlete, how to brave the cold,” Pinheiro Braathen told reporters last week in Milan. “Brazil taught me how to be myself.”
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