Lucas Pinheiro Braathen stunned Bormio in the first half. © APA/afp / DIMITAR DILKOFF

Puzzled faces in Bormio: Brazil dreams of gold

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is on the verge of making Olympic history. The Brazilian ski star is aiming for gold in the giant slalom at the Bormio Winter Games. In the first run, he was in a league of his own.

February 14, 2026

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Whether it was Marco Odermatt, Henrik Kristoffersen, or Stefan Brennsteiner: puffed-out cheeks were a common sight in the finish area of ​​Bormio on Saturday morning. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen started the Olympic giant slalom with bib number one, but the supposed guinea pig laid down a blistering time that proved unbeatable for the competition. Defending champion Marco Odermatt was the only rival to finish less than a second behind the 25-year-old (2nd/+0,95 seconds), followed by Loic Meillard (3rd/+1,57) and runner-up world champion Thomas Tumler (4th/+1,89).

The reactions were correspondingly perplexed. "Before I saw the time, I thought that one or two of the jumps might have been too tame," Brennsteiner (7th/+2,00) said in an interview with the ORF"But I hadn't imagined such a deficit. Lucas had a superb run."

Vinatzer needs a comeback – the slope is deteriorating

At least: If you take Braathen out of the equation, the conditions are roughly comparable to a normal World Cup race. Looking at the gaps, there's still plenty of room for medal action. Alex Vinatzer can also be hopeful of moving up the field. The skier from Wolkenstein is currently in eleventh place, 2,39 seconds behind the leader, and just under eight-tenths of a second away from the podium. He achieved a similar comeback in the second run when he finished on the podium in Beaver Creek about two months ago.

Alex Vinatzer needs a comeback in the second run. © ANSA / GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

The Bormio course could play into his hands. Conditions deteriorated noticeably in the first run – the perfect breeding ground for spectacular comebacks. So, despite his large lead, Braathen will have to give it his all once again. Not in the final run at 1:30 p.m. (live on [channel name]). SportNews(Ticker) Tobias Kastlunger from Enneberg and Luca de Aliprandini from Nonsberg are represented; both Italians were eliminated. Giovanni Franzoni at least finished in 26th place (+3,94).

Braathen could make history

Should Braathen actually succeed in winning gold in Bormio, it would be of historic proportions: In the history of the Winter Games, Isabel Clark Ribeiro's ninth place in the snowboard boardercross (2006) was previously the best result for the Brazilian federation across all disciplines.