Braathen claims unique gold for Brazil, Gu overcomes scare

Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the men’s giant slalom in Bormio on Saturday to take South America’s first ever gold at a Winter Olympics, while Chinese freeski superstar Eileen Gu survived a scare to stay ontrack for her first title ofthese Games.

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Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen reacts after the second run of the men's giant slalom alpine skiing event.

(AFP)

As the snow fell in Bormio, Norwegian-born Braathen was fastest in the first leg and kept his cool in the second to win with an aggregate time of 2min 25.00sec.

Only Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt came anywhere near him in the first run, claiming his second silver medal of the Milan-Cortina Games by finishing 0.58sec behind overall.

Odermatt’s Swiss teammate Loic Meillard rounded out the podium.

Braathen, 25, had switched allegiance to his mother’s homeland after falling out with the Norwegian ski federation.

His victory broke the mould in more ways than one — in the testosterone-filled world of alpine skiing, he is a regular at fashion weeks in Paris and Milan and has launched his own skincare range.