Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (, born 19April 2000) is a Norwegian and Brazilian alpine ski racer who specializes in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. He is the men's giant slalom champion at the 2026 Winter Olympics, becoming the first Brazilian and South American in history to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, as well as the first athlete representing any tropical nation to win a Winter Olympic medal.
Until his retirement from World Cup racing inOctober 2023, he represented Norway in international events. In March 2024, Pinheiro Braathen announced that he would return to the alpine skiing circuit, representing Brazil instead.
Early life Pinheiro Braathen was born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and a Brazilian mother on 19 April 2000. His parents divorced when he was three years old and he went to Brazil with his mother to live in the city of Campinas. Later in his childhood, he moved back to Norway to live with his father while regularly visiting Brazil. He grew up speaking Norwegian and Portuguese.
Pinheiro Braathen first skied when he was three or four years old, but he did not start skiing again until he was nine years old. Braathen also played football as a child, though he preferred skiing as it is an individual sport.
Career From Hokksund, Pinheiro Braathen raced for Norwegian club Bærums SK. At the Junior World Championships in 2019, he finished fourth and eleventh, followed by a silver medal in super-G, and a bronze medal in the combined event. He made his World Cup debut in December 2018 in Val d'Isere, and collected his first points (five) with a 26th-place finish.
Pinheiro Braathen recorded his first victory (and podium) in October 2020 at the opener of the 2020–21 season, a giant slalom in Sölden. In 2022, he won his first slalom at the Lauberhorn race in Wengen, going from 29th place after the first run to first place after the second run, the largest jump to victory at that time.
Pinheiro Braathen announced his retirement from World Cup racing on 27 October 2023, a day before the new season's opening event in Sölden. However, on 7 March 2024, he announced his return to alpine ski racing as a competitor for Brazil instead of Norway. On 27October 2024, exactly a year after he had announced his retirement, he returned at the World Cup giant slalom season opener in Sölden, narrowly finishing in 4th place behind three of his former teammates from Norway and scoring the first ever world cup points for Brazil in alpine skiing.
On 6 February 2026, Pinheiro Braathen participated in the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics as the flag bearer of Brazil, alongside Nicole Silveira. On 14February, Braathen arrived in the Milano Cortina 2026 as the second in the slalom, giant slalom and overall rankings after a successful 2025–26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, behind only skiing superstar Swiss Marco Odermatt. In the giant slalom Braathen put himself in pole position for gold with a leading time of 1:13.92 in the first run, almost a full second faster than second-place Odermatt. Braathen's second run saw him maintain his lead to secure the gold medal in a combined time of 2:25.00, with Odermatt (2:25.58) and Loïc Meillard (2:26.17) of Switzerland taking silver and bronze, respectively.
Braathen's historic victory made him the first Latin American and Brazilian, as well as the first athlete from any tropical nation, to win a medal in the Winter Olympics.
After the Olympics, Pinheiro Braathen competed in the penultimate World Cup event of the season in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. He topped the field in the giant slalom, winning a title in that discipline for the first time while representing Brazil. On the next day he attained another podium with a third-place finish in the slalom.
Next, Pinheiro Braathen competed in the last World Cup event of the season in Lillehammer, Norway. He topped the field in the giant slalom with a total time of 2:20.65, winning the title in that discipline and securing that season's crystal globe on the giant slalom, the first of his career and the first ever for a Brazilian.
Personal life Pinheiro Braathen speaks Norwegian, Portuguese, English, and German fluently, is a fan of Brazilian musical genres such as bossa nova, and is a supporter of São Paulo Futebol Clube. He currently has a home base established inside of Milan Italy, and he says "I owe it all to the winter Olympics for helping me find this new home." Part of his family resides in Paulínia, northwest of the state of São Paulo, while his mother lives in New Zealand.
In June 2025, he made his romantic relationship with Brazilian actress Isadora Cruz public.
World Cup results
Season titles 2 titles – (1 SL, 1 GS) SeasonDiscipline 2023 Slalom 2026 Giant slalom
Season standings SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiantslalomSuper-GDownhillCombinedParallel 2019 18 147 — 51 — — — 2020 19 27 24 15 — — — 10 2021 20 43 — 15 — — rowspan=9 18 2022 21 9 4 4 — — — 2023 22 4 1 7 39 — rowspan=9 2024 23 2025 24 6 6 5 — — 2026 252 3 1 — —
Race podiums 8 wins – (4 SL, 4 GS) 25 podiums – (14 SL, 11 GS), 60 top tens
Season Date Location Discipline Place202118 October 2020 Sölden, Austria Giant slalom1st202216 January 2022 Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom1st22 January 2022 Kitzbühel, Austria Slalom 2nd12 March 2022 Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant slalom 2nd19 March 2022 Courchevel, France Giant slalom 2nd202311 December 2022 Val d'Isère, FranceSlalom 1st18 December 2022 Alta Badia, Italy Giant slalom 1st8 January 2023 Adelboden, SwitzerlandSlalom 1st15 January 2023 Wengen, Switzerland Slalom 3rd 22 January 2023 Kitzbühel, Austria Slalom 3rd24 January 2023 Schladming, Austria Slalom 3rd19 March 2023 Soldeu, Andorra Slalom 2nd20259 December 2024 Beaver Creek, United States Giant slalom 2nd11 January 2025 Adelboden, Switzerland Slalom 2nd26 January 2025 Kitzbühel, Austria Slalom 3rd1 March 2025 Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant slalom 2nd16 March 2025 Hafjell, Norway Slalom 3rd202616 November 2025 Levi, FinlandSlalom 1st21 December 2025 Alta Badia, Italy Giant slalom 2nd10 January 2026 Adelboden, Switzerland Giant slalom 2nd18 January 2026 Wengen, Switzerland Slalom 2nd27 January 2026 Schladming, Austria Giant slalom 2nd7 March 2026 Kranjska Gora, SloveniaGiant slalom1st8 March 2026 Slalom 3rd24 March 2026 Hafjell, NorwayGiant slalom1st
World Championship results YearAgeSlalomGiantslalomSuper-GDownhillCombinedTeamcombinedParallelTeam event Representing Norway 2023 22 7 — — — ———Representing Brazil 2025 24 13 14 — — ——
Olympic results YearAgeSlalomGiantslalomSuper-GDownhillCombinedTeamcombinedTeam event Representing Norway 2022 21 DNF1 DNF2 — — — —Representing Brazil 2026 25 DNF1 1 — — —
References
External links
(Norway) (Brazil) Lucas Pinheiro Braathen at Milano Cortina 2026