Alpine skiing-From soccer dreamer to snow king, Brazil's Pinheiro Braathen strikes gold

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 14 : Like most young Brazilians, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen grew up wanting to emulate the country's fabled soccer players and maybe one day even wear the famous yellow and green.

On Saturday he became the vast South American country's latest and most unlikely sporting hero on a snowy slope in the Italian Alps, winning its first Winter Olympics gold medal and the first medal of any colour for a south American.

His stunning victory in the giant slalom was the latest landmark in a remarkable journey for the 25-year-old whose samba-style skiing has taken the winter sport by storm.

"I didn't grow up as a skier, I grew up as a football player. That was my introduction to sport," Norway-born Pinheiro Braathen told reporters after claiming victory by 0.58 seconds from Swiss favourite and defending champion Marco Odermatt.

"When I was visiting my family in Brazil, my first role models were Ronaldinho Gaucho, it was Ronaldo and those individuals that really changed the sports of football and sports in general, by daring to be who they are.

"That inspired me to even dare to go to my dad when I was around six or seven years old and tell him that I really want to become the best football player in the world.

"Now somehow I'm a skier, but at least I'm a champ."

Pinheiro Braathen moved to live with his Brazilian mother Alessandra at the age of three after she and his Norwegian father Bjorn divorced but returned later to Norway where he rather reluctantly took up skiing.

After becoming part of Norway's ski team and specialising in slalom he won the World Cup globe in the discipline in 2023 before stunning those in the sport by quitting, admitting in a recent documentary that skiing was making him miserable.

Everything changed