That's never happened before

Victory in Levi! Braathen writes World Cup history

Brazil has a World Cup winner.(Bild: AFP/RONI REKOMAA)

Brazil has its first winner in the Ski World Cup! Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has won the men's slalom in Levi. The 25-year-old triumphed on Sunday ahead of France's Clement Noel (+0.31) and surprise winner Eduard Hallberg (+0.57) from Finland. Michael Matt, Fabio Gstrein and Manuel Feller finished in ninth to eleventh place.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen ensured a historic day of skiing for Brazil on Sunday. The 25-year-old claimed the first World Cup victory in history for the South American country in the slalom in Levi. Braathen finished 0.31 seconds ahead of last year's winner Clement Noel and 0.57 ahead of the Finnish surprise man Eduard Hallberg. The best Austrians Michael Matt (+1.31 sec.), Fabio Gstrein (+1.32) and Manuel Feller (+1.40) finished in ninth to eleventh place.

The final result:

Braathen had won all five of his previous World Cup victories for Norway. After a one-year break, the 2022/23 slalom World Cup winner has been racing for Brazil, his mother's home country, since the previous season. In his first year after his comeback, Braathen had already landed on the podium five times - now, after a half-time lead, he made it to the top for the first time in his new colors.

Luca Braathen(Bild: AFP/RONI REKOMAA)

Hallberg ends Finnish dry spell
Hallberg was a source of excitement for the home fans. The 22-year-old managed the first World Cup podium finish by a Finn since Kalle Palander's victory in the giant slalom in Alta Badia on December 16, 2007. The last slalom podium for Finland to date had also gone to Palander a month earlier.

Clement Noel, Lucas Braathen and Eduard Hallberg (from left to right)(Bild: EPA/KIMMO BRANDT)

The Austrians were not in contention for the podium places. Gstrein dropped back from seventh place in the second run after making mistakes in the already difficult steep slope. Matt, on the other hand, was satisfied with his performance in both runs. "I can ski my momentum again," said the 2018 Olympic bronze medallist on ORF, who had moved up from 16th place. Feller, who had only managed to ski the upper part of the first run, improved by twelve positions with the second-best time in the second run.

Marco Schwarz, beaten only by Marco Odermatt in the Sölden giant slalom three weeks ago, did not make it past 19th place in the first slalom of the season with bib number 28. In the end, the Tyrolean was 1.82 seconds behind Braathen. Olympic combined champion Johannes Strolz finished 24th (+2.46). Austria's slalom men continue on Saturday with their home race in Gurgl.