Winter Olympics 2026: Brazil hunting historic first Winter Games medal as Pinheiro Braathen leads giant slalom
Brazil is on the brink of history at the Winter Olympics. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen holds the early lead in the giant slalom after the first run and will return for a decisive second run later Saturday (ET). In Cortina, Nicole Rocha Silveira is also racing across Friday and Saturday (ET) in skeleton, offering a second shot at a breakthrough for South America.
Pinheiro Braathen tops the giant slalom — and brings samba to the snow
Pinheiro Braathen produced a blistering first run on the Stelvio course, posting a time that put him 0. 95 seconds clear of the nearest rival. The fun-loving Brazilian, who sports “Vamos Dancar” on the back of his helmet, took full advantage of a smooth early track and now sits in striking position for a podium that would be unprecedented for South America at the Winter Games.
Second run set for later Saturday (ET) — pressure and opportunity
The final run will determine the medals, with the top 30 skiers running in reverse order. That means Pinheiro Braathen will start toward the end of the field in the evening session on Saturday (ET), a slot that brings both pressure and the benefit of knowing split times. He has repeatedly said the weight of expectation is something he embraces: “I’d be a liar if I said it was easy… the pressure that I bring in coming into these Games is something that I try to embrace with gratitude, ” he commented in 2024.
Silveira’s skeleton bid: steady ascent and a personal story
Nicole Rocha Silveira, born in Brazil but raised and trained in Canada, is another realistic hope to break the continental medal drought. She races in skeleton with combined times across two days, Friday and Saturday (ET), and comes in with strong recent World Cup form — including multiple podiums and a top-four at the world championships. Her journey from nursing shifts to sliding head-first down ice chutes has captured attention, and she competes wearing a helmet that nods to her roots: a painted parrot in a stethoscope.
What a medal would mean — and the route to making it happen
A podium for Brazil would rewrite the continent’s Winter Games history and mark the culmination of rapid progress by athletes who learned and refined their craft outside traditional winter-sport nations. For Pinheiro Braathen, who switched allegiance from a Scandinavian federation to represent his mother’s homeland, the giant slalom second run is a classic “one run to make it. ” For Silveira, consistency over four skeleton runs is the clearest path to surprise the favourites and lift a nation not known for ice and snow success.
Other winter drama to watch
The Games continue to deliver unpredictable scenes: a chaotic women’s cross-country relay saw slips, lost skis and dramatic recoveries on a demanding uphill course; dual moguls finals produced both tight judging calls and spectacular crashes; and men’s hockey round-robin action is shaping the knockout picture ahead of the eliminations. For Brazil, however, all eyes will remain fixed on the Stelvio and the Cortina ice track — two distinct chances to convert promise into a historic medal.
