Brazil’s Olympic ski champion Pinheiro Braathen poised for win with 1st-run lead at season opener

SÖLDEN, Austria (AP) — Brazilian Olympic champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen led the opening run of the season-opening World Cup giant slalom on Sunday and was poised to extend his winning streak in the discipline to four races.

The Norwegian-born Pinheiro Braathen, who at last season’s Milan Cortina Games earned South America its first medal at a Winter Olympics, stood 0.24 seconds ahead of Olympic slalom champion Loic Meillard and 0.49 ahead of Stefan Brennsteiner.

After his run, Pinheiro Braathen blew a kiss to the crowd, which featured a small group of spectators waving Brazilian flags.

Five-time defending overall champion Marco Odermatt stood fourth, 0.55 behind, and Atle Lie McGrath was fifth, 0.64 behind.

The course was shortened due to strong winds on the upper portion of the Rettenbach glacier and the race was held in difficult conditions.

Marco Schwarz lost control shortly into his run and went through a gate.

Lower-ranked skiers were still coming down the course.

Pinheiro Braathen is unbeaten in giant slalom since his Olympic breakthrough, having also won the final two World Cup GS races last season to seal the season-long discipline title. He switched nationalities two years ago to represent his mother’s home country.

Pineheiro Braathen’s slalom victory in Levi, Finland, nearly a year ago was Brazil’s first World Cup victory in Alpine skiing.

On Saturday, Paula Moltzan claimed her first career World Cup victory in the women’s opener; while Mikaela Shiffrin finished seventh.

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