Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen kisses his gold medal for an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The party in Brazil this week isn’t limited to the annual Carnivale in Rio de Janeiro.

Alpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen delivered the first gold medal by a South American athlete at the Winter Olympics by surging to victory in the giant slalom.

The 25-year-old, whose father is Norwegian and mother is from Brazil, posted a two-run time of 2 minutes, 25 seconds, beating defending champion Marco Odermatt of Switzerland by 0.58 seconds. Odermatt’s teammate, Loic Meillard, earned bronze on the snowy and slippery Stelvia course.

“I was skiing with my heart, and when you ski the way you are, anything is possible,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “The only thing that matters to me is that I remain who I am. I am a Brazilian skier who became an Olympic champion.”

Norway’s Kirkeedie bounces back

Maren Kirkeeide’s first Olympic biathlon race ended with a dismal 49th-place finish early in the Games.

Her second went far, far better.

The Norwegian earned gold in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint, clearing all 10 of her shots before crossing the finish line in 20 minutes and 40.8 seconds, just ahead of Oceane Michelon of France 3.8 seconds back. Lou Jeanmonnot missed one but held on for the bronze, 23.7 seconds back.

“I wanted to try my best, and I got some positive feedback from the coaches, and then I got some extra motivation, and it helped me all the way to the finish line,” Kirkeeide said.

Jeanmonnot now has a full set of medals in Italy. She took silver in the 15-kilometer individual race and was part of France’s gold medal-winning mixed relay.

Norway takes advantage of Sweden’s stumble

A snapped ski binding by Sweden created an opening in the women’s cross-country relay. Norway was more than happy to zip through it.

The Norwegians pulled off a stunner to claim gold in a discipline dominated by the Swedes. Sweden entered the race having won seven out of nine possible medals so far up at the course in Tesero.

The Swedes were leading during the second leg when Ebba Andersson broke her binding and fell. Forced to ski with just one ski at one point, she lost valuable time.

Norway finished the 4 x 7.5-kilometer race in 1 hour, 15 minutes and 44.8 seconds, 50 seconds ahead of Sweden. Finland earned the bronze, more than a minute back.

Austrian wins the women’s skeleton gold

This time, Janine Flock finished the job. And a gold medal finally sways from her neck.

Flock — the Austrian slider who came into these Milan Cortina Games winless in 16 all-time appearances at either the Olympics or the world championships — got, by far, the biggest win of her long and legendary career on Saturday night.

She’s the women’s skeleton Olympic champion, completing four runs in 3 minutes, 49.02 seconds and finishing off a wire-to-wire victory. The 36-year-old got her first Olympic medal in four attempts, holding off Germany’s Susanne Kreher and Jacqueline Pfeifer for the win.

“I can’t believe it. It doesn’t feel real right now,” Flock said. “It’s a dream to do this.”

It was a win about two decades in the making. Flock is a three-time World Cup overall champion with 15 World Cup race wins, 45 World Cup medals overall, and has silver and bronze medals from the world championships.

And now, gold in the biggest race of all. Flock was fourth at the 2018 Olympics, ninth in 2014 and 10th in 2022.

Slovenian ski jumper lands gold

PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) — Domen Prevc of Slovenia proved his formidable ski jumping prowess in the rain Saturday, coming from behind to capture the gold medal on the men’s large hill at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Prevc was in second place going into the final round and landed a whopping 464-foot jump — the biggest of the night — to move ahead of Japan’s Ren Nikaido, who won silver, and Kacper Tomasiak of Poland, who won bronze.

The three are in their first Olympics and are multiple medal winners on the Predazzo ski hill.

It was the second gold for Prevc, after the mixed team victory Tuesday that he shared with his star sister, Nika.

Nikaido won bronze medals on the men’s normal hill and in the mixed team event. Tomasiak won silver on the normal hill.