BORMIO: Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has delivered one of the biggest moments of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. He won men’s giant slalom gold and earned the first Winter Games medal for a South American nation.
The 25 year old stayed calm in heavy snow on the Stelvio course. He finished with a two run combined time of 2:25.00. He beat Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt by 0.58 seconds, with Loic Meillard taking bronze.
Braathen built his win in the morning session. He started first and flew through the opening run in 1:13.92. That gave him a 0.95 second lead over Odermatt.
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The gap left top racers trying to catch up. Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen showed the surprise after the first run. He called the time differences “comical”.
The afternoon run brought the pushback people expected. Odermatt put down a fast 1:10.71. He briefly moved into the lead and put pressure on the final starter.
Meillard was even faster on the second run in 1:10.68. Braathen finished in 1:11.08. That was enough to hold on to the lead he built earlier.
Behind the medal winners, Switzerland’s Thomas Tumler finished fourth, Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath was fifth and Kristoffersen ended up seventh overall.
Andorra’s Joan Verdú stood out on the second run with the fastest time of 1:10.60. But his slower first run left him 10th on the combined standings.
After the race, Braathen spoke in an emotional moment before the medal ceremony. He said: “I’m not even able to grasp reality.” His win also showed how close Switzerland’s results have been in the men’s Alpine events.
Reuters reported Odermatt arrived as a multi gold favourite but will leave Bormio without a title, after earlier winning silver in the team combined and bronze in super G.
Attention now turns to Cortina d’Ampezzo. Italy’s Federica Brignone will go for giant slalom gold after her super G gold. She said she hopes to go into the next race with the same calm.
