Olympics
Milano Cortina 2026 hit the halfway mark Saturday, and the headline moment came from the slopes of Bormio, Italy, where Lucas Pinheiro Braathen delivered Brazil its first-ever Winter Olympic medal—gold in the men’s giant slalom. And he did it in style.
Giant slalom races are conducted in two runs, with the combined time determining the final result. In the World Cup, only the top 30 from run one qualify for run two. At the Olympics, however, everyone who finishes the first run qualifies for run two. The top 30 qualifiers will compete in run 2 in reverse order ahead of the rest of the field.
With 81 starters, the field in Bormio was deep—stacked with the fastest GS skiers in the world.
Run 1: A Statement From Bib No. 1
Opening the race was Braathen in bib 1 and he made the most of the first bib. he finished run 1 in 1:13.92 but it was unclear whether it was a good time. Setting the pace from the first gate is always tricky—you have no benchmark. No split comparisons. No context. Just instinct and execution. But it didn’t take long for his time to crystallize as something extraordinary.
The next six skiers—all the fastest in the world, hence the top 7 starting bibs—finished between one and two seconds slower. That group included current World Cup overall leader Marco Odermatt, who had the fastest time behind Braathen, 0.95 seconds behind. When the fastest skiers on the circuit cannot keep up with the first skier, something is different. Some blamed the soft course, however, such a strong course deterioration within minutes seemed unlikely.
Braathen’s skiing looked fluid and confident on a hill that was anything but predictable. The course had been prepped inline with FIS guidelines and was water injected, however, the rather flat course caused many to struggle. Adaptability was everything—and Braathen adapted better than anyone. At the end of run one, he still held nearly a one-second lead as no-one came close to the Brazilian.
Behind him sat a Swiss wall: Odermatt in second, followed by Loïc Meillard and Thomas Tumler. France’s Léo Anguenot was fifth, and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen sixth, while Braathen’s close friend Atle Lie McGrath sat eighth—more than two seconds back.
For Team USA, River Radamus finished run one in 12th, Ryder Sarchett 29th, while Kyle Negomir did not finish. Australia’s Harry Laidlaw was 28th after the first run.
But the story for run 2 was clear: it would be Braathen vs. the Swiss.
Run 2: Holding His Nerve
With soft snow deteriorating and visibility fluctuating, run two became a survival test.
Odermatt pushed hard, throwing down a time that would ultimately secure silver. Meillard stayed composed for bronze. McGrath charged in the second run, moving up to fifth and bumping Anguenot to sixth. Kristoffersen finished eighth.
Then it was down to Braathen. He didn’t need to win the run—just control it. And that’s exactly what he did. Clean transitions. Smart line. No panic. He crossed the line still in green with a final margin of 0.58 seconds over Odermatt. Loic Meillard in third place sat more than 1.5 seconds back. It was gold for Brazil.
The victory marked the first Winter Olympic medal in Brazilian history—a breakthrough moment not just for Braathen, but for an entire nation rarely associated with snow sports. When we spoke with Braathen five months ago, the Norwegian-Brazilian athlete stated he was hoping to use his dual citizenship as his superpower for the upcoming season, and it can be safely said that today, he did.
Milano Cortina 2026 has delivered plenty of drama, but this was something different: a near one-second first-run lead converted into Olympic gold under pressure. The fact that Braathen managed to hold on to the majority of his lead on Odermatt despite competing run 2 as 30th skier shows that his first run was not a fluke or stroke of luck but down to skill.
For the Americans, River Radamus finished the race as the top-seeded American, ending up 17th. “It’s a tough business,” Radamus said. “I devote my entire life to standing on that podium knowing full well that the odds are against me so it’s difficult on a day like this.”He added, that “it’s a blessing to take part in this and it’s a blessing to be able to dream and to be able to try. I wish I had the best skiing to be on that podium, but I don’t have a lot of regrets.”
Sarchett improved on his second run to finish 25th in his Olympic debut. “To be able to do this at 22 I’m really stoked,” Sarchett said. “I had some great turns on the second run.”
There’s one final men’s race left on the Olympic alpine calendar: slalom on February 16, while the women compete in GS tomorrow, Sunday, February 15, in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
