| Lucas Pinheiro Braathen held off Clément Noël to make history on Sunday as he became the first Brazilian alpine skier to win an FIS World Cup event with victory in the slalom after Lara Colturi and Emma Aicher banked women’s podium spots in Levi, Finland. Here is all you need to know: – The 24-year-old Pinheiro Braathen, who was a five-time World Cup winner and 2023 slalom champion when representing his father’s country Norway before briefly retiring then coming back for Brazil, had been knocking on the door last season with three slalom podiums in Adelboden, Kitzbühel and Hafjell going into the first 2025/26 stop. – Pinheiro Braathen came out fast in the first run to record the best time of 54.13s with Frenchman Noël – last year’s winner in Finland – 0.41s back leaving Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen and Swiss Loïc Meillard over one minute behind after they also recorded podium finishes one year ago. – After young Briton Laurie Taylor produced the best second run of the day to rocket up the standings, home hero Eduard Hallberg went fastest then Noël with just the Brazilian left to leave the gate. – He did not disappoint his worldwide fans, though, as he banked the 11th best time of the second run to eclipse Noël by 0.31s for his first FIS World Cup win in Brazilian colours with Hallberg third and Taylor fourth. – Thirteen months after returning to the sport to represent his mother’s homeland, Pinheiro Braathen said: “This is a song that I’ve grown up hearing during the football games that inspired me to even start with sports and now to be able to be the reason why that song gets played in an occasion of success, representing the same nation where I grew my love for sports, it truly feels like a full circle moment. I am so very proud.” – Noël, 28, added: “That’s a good way to start the season, it’s always great to stand on the podium. I could have skied better, but that’s still a really good way to start the season.” – On Saturday, the first women’s slalom run of the season saw Mikaela Shiffrin dominate the first run, however Albanian Colturi looked a class act to finish second 1.08s behind with German Lena Duerr third and Croatian Zrinka Ljutic also impressing in fourth – 1.58s behind. – German all-round star Aicher, who finished last season’s FIS World Cup with two superb downhill and Super-G wins, was 1.92s behind Shiffrin, but still in with a shout of a podium heading into the second run. – The 22-year-old duly stepped up a gear in the second run to claim the fastest time ahead of American Paula Moltzan with Duerr and Ljutic unable to better her leading into the last two skiers of the day. – Colturi, whose only previous FIS World Cup slalom podium came at the Austrian resort of Gurgl on November 23, 2024, gave it her best shot to eclipse Aicher’s time and took the lead with one racer left. – Shiffrin, though, was firmly in the zone and produced the best run again to win by 1.66s with Colturi second, Aicher third 2.59s back and Ljutic an encouraging sixth place 2.80s behind heading into the next race. – Italian-born Colturi, 18, said: “It’s an amazing day. I was feeling so great in training and finally I put these feelings on a race day and I’m so happy and so proud about that. I said, ‘Just live the moment.'” – Shiffrin added: “I think she (Colturi) has every possibility in the world, to be better, to push the sport. She’s already here, pushing the level. It’s amazing to see her focus, she’s so mature.” – Aicher, 22, said: “I didn’t think it was going to happen today, but I’m really happy it did. I didn’t really think about my position. I just wanted to ski good and push. I think I managed to do that better in the second run.” Explore more Alpine Skiing content HERE. | 
