After building a huge early lead, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA) held on in Saturday's men’s giant slalom in Bormio to win his first-career Olympic gold medal. He posted a combined time of 2:25.00.
With the victory, Pinheiro Braathen became the first athlete — man or woman, in any sport — representing a South American nation to earn a Winter Olympic medal.
Swiss superstar Marco Odermatt (SUI) secured his second silver of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games (+0.58). Odi, the favorite in three Alpine skiing disciplines (downhill, super-G and giant slalom) coming into the Olympics, leaves Bormio with a trio of medals, but no gold.
Odi's fellow countryman Loic Meillard (SUI) rounded out the top three, finishing third (+1.17).
Raceday belonged to Pinheiro Braathen, and his dominance began as soon as he left the starting gate.
Wearing bib No. 1, the Brazilian crushed his competition in one of the more lopsided giant slalom (GS) Run 1s you'll see. The next closest racer, Odermatt, trailed by nearly a full second.
According to NBC broadcaster Dan Hicks, the margin between first and second was the largest after an Olympic men’s GS Run 1 since the great Alberto Tomba in 1988.
Typically, tenths of a second — often just hundredths — separate the top competitors. Meillard, who posted the third quickest Run 1 time, was over a second-and-a-half behind Pinheiro Braathen. Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT), in seventh, was two seconds off (+2.00).
That kind of gap was perhaps the result of a stellar ski by Pinheiro Braathen, deteriorating course conditions, another unknown variable or even a combination of the three.
No matter how you slice it, the 25-year-old sat firmly in the driver’s seat heading into Run 2 and he refused to let go of the wheel. There was a moment he slipped and nearly fell in Sector 3, but even through the wet, heavy snow, Pinheiro Braathen held on to complete the gold medal worthy performance.
"I've done so much, I've sacrificed so much by daring to pave my own way in order to reach my own dream," an emotional Pinheiro Braathen told Heather Cox post-race. "Not others' dream, my dream. And this is my dream.
"It cost everything, but we finished off on top. I am so grateful to everyone around me. My friends, my family, my team, the country of Brazil have supported me day in and day out, ever since I started representing."
Three Americans participated in Saturday's GS and two of them placed within the top 30.
River Radamus (USA), who finished fourth in GS at the 2022 Winter Games, nabbed 17th (+2.96). Making his Olympic debut, 22-year-old Ryder Sarchett (USA) came in 25th (+5.11).
Kyle Negomir (USA), who took 10th in the men's downhill last weekend, did not finish (DNF'd) his GS Run 1.
The Olympic giant slalom action returns on Sunday when Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), Paula Moltzan (USA) and the world’s top technical specialists take on the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre course in Cortina. Run 1 starts at 4 a.m. ET, Run 2 at 7:30 a.m. ET, with both streaming live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.