Lucas Pinheiro Braathen makes Olympic history with gold for Brazil: ‘This was written for me’

BORMIO, Italy — The first South American gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics paints his nails, loves to samba dance and credits the Brazilian men’s soccer team for cultivating his love for sports.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen also believes his stirring triumph Saturday in the men’s giant slalom at these Games “was written for me.”

And so when it happened, when Pinheiro Braathen’s second run down the famed Stelvio Ski Slope in Bormio clinched the first gold medal for Brazil in the Winter Olympics, the 25-year-old sunk to the snow, overcome with emotion. It was three years ago the Norwegian-born skier retired from the sport at 23 years old, feeling empty, lost and angry. Now he had bested the most accomplished men’s alpine skier in the world, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, by 0.58 of a second, on a snowy day in the Italian Alps.

“It’s a moment that’s hard to grasp, even though it’s crystal clear that you’re an Olympic champion,” said Pinheiro Braathen.

Once he climbed to his feet, he pumped his skis in the air. The party was on. Pinheiro Braathen revved the crowd. He danced. And on the victory podium, while the Brazilian national anthem played for the very first time at a Winter Olympics, he fought back tears, staring long and hard at his gold medal, almost like he wasn’t sure it was real.

The first skier on the mountain Saturday, Pinheiro Braathen dropped a devastating opening run of 1 minute, 13.92 seconds, quickest of the 81 competitors. In pursuit, Odermatt screamed down the Stelvio during his second run, seeking the first gold medal of his Games. It wasn’t enough. Pinheiro Braathen’s combined time of 2:25.00 edged Odermatt’s 2:25.58.

“I had the privilege of opening the show today with No. 1 and intended to ski as No. 1,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “And that’s what I did.”

“He was better in the first run, obviously,” Odermatt said. “He had the best bib number, and he skied the best … in the second run we all caught up, but the big gap from the first one was not there to catch up.”

Odermatt settled for his second silver of the Games, while Switzerland also claimed the next spot. Loic Meillard took the bronze.

“Lucas was fast the whole winter, he was also consistent,” Meillard said. “Today he pitched up and he was simply a little bit better than us.”

After retiring in 2023, Pinheiro Braathen returned to the sport six months later wearing a new country’s colors. He had switched allegiance from Norway to ski for Brazil, his mother’s homeland, calling it “the country that has shaped me to become the person that I am, the athlete that I am.”

Indeed, his interests transcend the sport, and he’s said his feet feel more comfortable on the beaches of Brazil than in the snow of Norway. He has modeled and has a love for fashion — “it’s completely universal, it’s our first impression,” Pinheiro Braathen said — as well as samba dancing, even scripting “Let’s Dance” on the back of his ski helmet. He grew up visiting Brazil every year, idolizing his two favorite soccer players, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, heeding their inspiration to become two of the greatest of all time.

Upon his return, he felt a pull to cultivate a passion for ski racing in a country that had little history or familiarity with the sport. “I cannot tell you how many comments I have read from the time I started represented Brazil along the lines of, ‘I have no idea what’s going on, but let’s go Brazil, let’s go Lucas!’” he said.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen lifts his skis in the air after winning gold. (Fabrice Coffrini / AFP via Getty Images)

It was his time away, Pinheiro Braathen said, that both reshaped him and revived him.

“It was decisive,” he said. “It was absolutely necessary.”

He found what he calls “light in the shade.”

“If it wouldn’t have been for all those drastic choices I’ve made, and the rather unconventional path I’ve taken, I would have never sat here today with this (medal).”

In the seven days leading up to the giant slalom, Pinheiro Braathen kept feeling a tug, a message that was trying to tell him something. Finally, it revealed itself: “Olympic gold today was written for me.” He trusted it, he said, bought into it, and believed it with everything he had. From there that conviction allowed himself to ski fast and free.

“You can’t hide out there,” he said. “I’ve worked a lot outside of the beasts to be the fastest on the beasts.”

Pinheiro Braathen, who grew up in the Norwegian ski system, was measured in his news conference after his triumph, choosing his words carefully while his medal hung from his neck and a Brazilian flag draped around his shoulders.

Asked what his victory could mean for Brazil, the Olympic champion  — who was already the first Brazilian to win a World Cup race — smiled.

“I absolutely cannot imagine,” he said.

In fact, the country’s president had already chimed in. “This unprecedented result shows that Brazilian sport has no limits,” Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva posted on X.

“I’ve tried over and over again to put words to what I’m feeling, but it’s simply impossible,” Pinhero Braathan added. “If there is anything that I hope I can be as a source of inspiration today, it’s that that you dare to be who you are.”