BORMIO, Italy — South America has its first medal ever in the Winter Olympics, and it's gold.
Alpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, a native of Norway who now competes for Brazil (his mother's country), won the men's giant slalom at Stelvio Ski Centre on Saturday, Feb. 14 to make history.
Pinheiro Braathen was the first skier on the hill during the morning's opening run, and he used that leadoff spot to throw down a sizzling 1:13.92. Switzerland's star Marco Odermatt was the only competitor to get within 1.57 seconds of that time, and even he was nearly a second (0.95) behind Pinheiro Braathen.
"Conditions are always a factor. He got a clean course, and he took advantage of it," said River Radamus, who was the highest-placing American (17th) in the giant slalom. "That's part of the game. But he didn't make any mistakes."
It was clearly Pinheiro Braathen's gold medal to lose entering the afternoon's second run, and he didn't lose it, finishing ahead of Odermatt, the silver medalist, by 0.58 seconds. Though there were still skiers left to compete following Pinheiro Braathen's run, the results were all but official.
Switzerland's Loic Meillard was third to take home the bronze.
Despite the novelty of Brazil winning a medal in alpine skiing, Pinheiro Braathen’s victory wasn’t some massive upset. He’s considered one of the world’s best men's slalom racers and is originally from Oslo. Through an odd series of circumstances and disagreements, he ended up retiring from skiing at age 23 and then returning to compete for Brazil at 25.
He won Brazil's first World Cup skiing race in November, and he has been focused on making history again in Bormio. He carried Brazil's flag during the opening ceremony.
"I get to come there and represent over 200 million people in a sport that they've barely been represented in every before," Pinheiro Braathen told NBC's "Stifel Snow Show" prior to the Olympics, "and I have an opportunity at hand of giving them something they've never been able to be proud of."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wins Winter Olympics gold for Brazil