Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won, this Saturday (11), the silver medal in the Adelboden stage, in Switzerland, of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, one of the disciplines of the Winter Olympics. He came second in the slalom event, surpassed by Frenchman Clement Noel, current Olympic champion. Bronze went to Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen.
In slalom, athletes make two descents on a course with fast curves, having to cross it by passing between the “doors”, which are the poles stuck in the snow. Lucas completed the descents in a combined time of 1min51s55, two hundredths behind Noel and 13 ahead of Kristoffersen. He had the fifth best time for both the first descent (55s46) and the second (56s09).
This was Lucas’ second medal of this World Cup season. In December, the Brazilian had already won silver in the Beaver Creek stage, in the United States, in the giant slalom race – similar to the slalom, but with the doors farther apart and longer curves. He will even compete in the giant slalom in Adelboden this Sunday (12), with the first descent starting at 6:30 am (Brasília time).
Second place earned 80 points for Lucas, who went on to 370 points in the 2024/2025 season, in fourth place. Frenchman Noel, who gained 100 points with this Saturday’s victory, appears fifth in the standings. The leader is Swiss Marco Odermatt, with 630 points, followed by Norwegian Kristoffersen, with 570 points, 60 of which were obtained in Adelboden for third place.
Lucas, 24 years old, was born in Oslo, Norway, but with a Brazilian mother. Representing his home country, he was World Cup champion in the 2022/2023 edition, in slalom. The skier started to defend Brazil from this season onwards, after having announced his retirement in the previous one.
He debuted as a green and yellow athlete in October, at the Sölden stage, in Austria, which opened the 2024/2025 season, with a fourth place in the giant slalom. The goal is to reach the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be held in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
