Braathen wins unique Winter Olympic gold for Brazil, Gu overcomes scare / Photo: Dimitar DILKOFF - AFP
Braathen wins unique Winter Olympic gold for Brazil, Gu overcomes scare
Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the men's giant slalom in Bormio on Saturday to take South America's first ever gold at a Winter Olympics, while Chinese freeski superstar Eileen Gu survived a scare to stay on track for her first title of these Games.
As the snow fell in Bormio, Norwegian-born Braathen was fastest in the first leg and kept his cool in the second to win with an aggregate time of 2min 25.00sec.
Only Switzerland's Marco Odermatt came anywhere near him in the first run, claiming his second silver medal of the Milan-Cortina Games by finishing 0.58sec behind overall.
Odermatt's Swiss teammate Loic Meillard rounded out the podium.
Braathen, 25, had switched allegiance to his mother's homeland after falling out with the Norwegian ski federation.
His victory broke the mould in more ways than one -- in the testosterone-filled world of alpine skiing, he is a regular at fashion weeks in Paris and Milan and has launched his own skincare range.
"I just wanted to ski as the person I am. I know I can be the best in the world, if I do that to the greatest extent," he said after clinching gold, the first ever Winter Olympic medal of any colour for an athlete representing Latin America.
- Gu survives scare -
China's freeski superstar Eileen Gu stayed on course to defend her Olympic big air crown despite a crash that left her with an apparently sore wrist, keeping alive her intriguing duel with Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud.
Gu was cruising after scoring 86.00 points in her first run of three but fell on her second attempt.
After her tumble she spent about 10 minutes talking to her mother at Livigno Snow Park and icing her left wrist before returning to the top of the course.
But she produced a smooth final run and punched the air in delight after scoring 84.75 for a combined total of 170.75, which meant she finished second.
Gu will resume her battle with Gremaud in Monday's final after the Swiss beat her into second place in the slopestyle event earlier in the Games.
American speed skater Jordan Stolz achieved the 500m and 1000m double on Saturday, a feat not seen in men's speed skating for 46 years.
Three days after his Olympic title in the 1000m, 21-year-old Stolz claimed the 500m gold medal, with Dutchman Jenning de Boo taking the silver medal behind him just as he had in the longer race.
The US men's ice hockey team, packed with stars from the National Hockey League at an Olympics for the first time since 2014, were taking on Denmark later on Saturday as they seek to keep their bid for a first gold medal since 1980 on track.
Meanwhile Olympics organisers made a Valentine's Day revelation that athletes have snapped up 10,000 of the free condoms available at the various Olympic accommodation 'clusters' in these Games.
"10,000 have been used, for 2,800 athletes. Go figure, as they say," International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said with a smile.
S.Vandenberghe--JdB
