BORMIO, Italy (AP) — There was dancing, plenty of dancing, for Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen as he performed samba steps over and over. To no real music, either.
There were emotions, too, especially when they played his national anthem. And reflection, for knowing what this moment meant now and could mean later.
Once a racer for Norway, Pinheiro Braathen switched to Brazil, his mother's home country, and with two powerful runs Saturday to win the Olympic giant slalom he earned the distinction of picking 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 said. “But it’s simply impossible.”
He gave his country another reason to celebrate even if it already just so happened to be Carnival season. The fun-loving, samba-dancing skier had the perfect helmet for the occasion, too, stenciling on the back “Vamos Dancar” — “Let’s Dance.”
He did a rhythmic number in the first run that gave him a 0.95-second edge.
With snow falling and fog settling in on the final run, the 25-year-old Pinheiro Braathen remained cool and relaxed as he navigated his way through the technical Stelvio course. After seeing his place — No. 1 — he just stared. When it finally sank in, he fell to the snow before starting to scream.
He finished in a two-run combined time of 2 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 explained. “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 family where his mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He started racing for Norway until abruptly retiring before the 2023 season, only to return a year later representing Brazil.
He’s already accomplished plenty of firsts with his new country: First Brazilian Alpine racer to finish on a World Cup podium last year and first World Cup win for the country this season.
Now, he’s the first Olympian from the South American continent to bring home 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 said. “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 got so choked up hearing his nation's anthem on the podium. Brazil has taken part of every edition of the Winter Olympics since 1992. The country’s best result until Pinheiro Braathen’s gold medal was ninth place in women’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 said.
He gave a shoutout to the Norwegian Ski Federation as well.
“I don’t have any hate or bad feelings about what has happened,” he said. “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 another medal for Odermatt at the Milan Cortina Games. He also won silver in the team combined event, where he partnered with Meillard, and bronze in the super-G.
“Three medals,” Odermatt said, “is amazing.”
Odermatt was asked about seeing a Brazilian on top 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 finished fifth. He has known Pinheiro Braathen since they began racing together as kids for their ski club.
“We shared a nice hug over there,” said McGrath, who wore a black armband in tribute to his late grandfather. “I’m really proud of him.”
In Milan, Pinheiro Braathen's fans, decked out in green and yellow, crowded into “Casa Brasil.” They cheered for the entirety of his run, screaming and jumping to their feet once he finished. The sound system blared “We Are The Champions” before playing samba-infused songs for everyone to dance to.
For Pinheiro Braathen, it's hard for him to imagine how he will be perceived now that he's won gold for Brazil. He's eager to find 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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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing and AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics