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11/16 04:28 CST Chasing Brazil's first Alpine skiing World Cup win, Pinheiro
Braathen leads slalom after 1st run
Chasing Brazil's first Alpine skiing World Cup win, Pinheiro Braathen leads
slalom after 1st run
LEVI, Finland (AP) --- Lucas Pinheiro Braathen took a commanding lead in the
opening run of a men's World Cup slalom Sunday, positioning himself for what
would be Brazil's first-ever win in a top-level ski race less than three months
before the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Pinheiro Braathen had an all-attacking run on the Levi Black course to finish
0.41 seconds ahead of 2022 Olympic champion Clement Noel of France and 0.49
ahead of his former Norwegian teammate Timon Haugan.
The rest of the field, including slalom World Cup winner Henrik Kristoffersen
and world champion Loic Meillard, had more than eight-tenths to make up on
Pinheiro Braathen in the final leg later Sunday.
"I had a good feeling. I had a plan and a strategy, and I followed that. I know
when I follow my plan, I have a lot of potential," Pinheiro Braathen said.
A tech specialist who debuted on the World Cup in 2018, Pinheiro Braathen won
five races in total before clinching the season-long slalom title in 2022-23.
He then fell out with the Norwegian ski federation over his personal marketing
rights, took a year-long break from the sport and returned last season
competing for Brazil, his mother's native country.
The first skier for the country on Alpine skiing's World Cup circuit since
2016, Pinheiro Braathen racked up five podium results. Brazil has never won a
World Cup race or a medal at the Olympics or world championships in Alpine
skiing.
In an interview with The Associated Press in September, Pinheiro Braathen said
his first win for Brazil "will come, and it's coming soon."
Skiing great Marcel Hirscher, who also switched federations before making a
comeback last year, sat out Sunday's race and postponed his return from injury
until January.
After winning a record eight overall titles for Austria, Hirscher retired in
2019 but returned to the circuit for the Netherlands, his mother's native
country.
Hirscher's comeback season was cut short after three races when he injured his
knee in slalom training in early December.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
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