RIO DE JANEIRO
Just as Brazil draped itself in sequins and surrendered to the rhythm of Carnival, a new sound cut through the revelry: the swish of skis on snow, carrying a nation to an unprecedented victory.
Alpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen roared down the slope on Saturday to capture Brazil’s first-ever gold medal at the Winter Games.
In a single, electrifying run, he did more than claim the top prize; he made history for an entire continent. It is the first Winter Olympic gold for any country in South America.
The victory arrived on the opening day of Carnival, the pre-Lenten festival where city streets typically belong to dancers and drummers. But for a moment, even the intoxicating pulse of the “greatest show on Earth” had to share the spotlight.
Pinheiro Braathen’s golden run bumped Carnival coverage from the top slots on major news websites, as a tropical nation stopped to celebrate a champion born of both snow and sun.
Known affectionately in Brazil as “O cara do ski”—the skiing dude—the 25-year-old has long been a novelty in a country without a single ski lift. Now, he is a national treasure.
His victory marks the latest in a string of recent triumphs on the global stage, achievements that many Brazilians feel are finally giving the nation its long-overdue acclaim.
In Campinas, a bustling city in Sao Paulo state where Pinheiro Braathen spent childhood vacations and still has relatives, the celebration was deeply personal. Among the revelers was Thiago Varella, a 41-year-old radio host and self-confessed sports fanatic.
“This has become one of my top five Brazil gold medals in Olympic history, no doubt,” Varella told The Associated Press, his voice buzzing with the kind of pride usually reserved for a World Cup victory “He will be our skiing dude forever.
Even people who don’t understand the sport now will come to admire his story and his Brazilian-ness.”
For now, as the Carnival parades continue and the nation dances into the night, they do so with a little extra glitter—the golden gleam of a champion who proved that in Brazil, the spirit of victory can thrive anywhere, even on ice.
By James Kisoo
