MILAN: 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.

The Norwegian-born Braathen was fastest in the first leg in snowy Bormio 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 team-mate 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, leading to accusations he is “too feminine in a very masculine sport”.

“I just wanted to ski as the person I am. I know I can be the best in the world, if I do that to the greatest extent,” he said after clinching gold, the first ever Winter Olympic medal of any colour for an athlete representing Latin America.

At the Milano ice skating arena, US figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin, the skater who had not lost for more than two years, suffered a nightmare on the ice.

Heading into the free skate section in the lead, Malinin capitulated, fluffing his signature quad axel jump and falling twice to the ice to plummet to eighth spot overall.

Mikhail Shaidorov, leading the way with an overall score of 291.58 points, could barely believe his eyes when he saw Malinin’s score of 264.49.

The 21-year-old Kazakh, who no-one had predicted would win gold, watched not just Malinin but his Japanese rivals make error after error and rode to an unlikely title.

Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who had been second after the short programme, also fell during his routine but ended with the silver medal, equalling his performance from the 2022 Beijing Games. His compatriot Shun Sato took the bronze.

The women’s freestyle skiing dual moguls gold was won by Australia’s Jakara Anthony, redeeming herself after a disappointing loss three days earlier in the single-format moguls.

Anthony, 27, became the first Australian to earn two Winter Olympics gold medals when she overtook American Jaelin Kauf under heavy snow in the northern Italian town of Livigno. Kauf earned silver, and bronze went to fellow American Elizabeth Lemley.

Meanwhile, Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide shot perfectly and skied brilliantly on a frenetic final lap to win a stunning gold medal in the women’s 7.5 km sprint race while the women’s 4x7.5km cross-country ski relay was also won by the Norwegians.

American Jordan Stolz seized the men’s 500 metres title, securing his second gold medal of these Games.

Stolz, who triumphed in the men’s 1,000m on Wednesday, topped a podium completed by Dutchman Jenning de Boo with silver and Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil with bronze.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2026