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Norwegian-Brazilian alpine Lucas Pinheiro Braathen skier in action during the men's giant slalom race of the FIS Alpin Ski World Cup finals in Kvitfjell. Cornelius Poppe/NTB/dpa
Norway-born Lucas Pinheiro Braathen snatched the World Cup giant slalom title in the final discipline race of the season on Tuesday after overall champion Marco Odermatt skied out early on while leading the standings.
Swiss ski super star Odermatt had already wrapped up a fifth overall crystal globe and was hoping to add giant slalom glory to downhill and super-g success this season in Hafjell, Norway.
But his hopes of a fifth straight giant slalom title all but ended almost immediately when he erred at the top of the course as the first skier in the opening run.
That gave Pinheiro Braathen the opportunity to leapfrog his rival and he did so in style by leading the first run and then winning the race for a first World Cup discipline title for a skier representing Brazil.
The 25-year-old set a combined 2 minutes 20.65 seconds, 0.58 ahead of Loic Meillard with Atle Lie McGrath third.
Pinheiro Braathen, who won Olympic giant slalom gold last month for Brazil's first Winter Games triumph, had previously won a slalom crystal globe in 2023 but that was when he raced for Norway before a switch of allegiance.
A row with the Norwegian federation led him to ski for his mother's birthplace of Brazil after missing the 2023 season.
He ended up beating Odermatt by 52 points in this season's giant slalom standings with an eighth World Cup win on the Norwegian course he knows well. He was cheered by local fans despite his history.
Despite the overall title and two discipline globes, Odermatt may view his season with regret after missing gold at the Milan/Cortina Olympics as well as Tuesday's giant slalom crown.
Former overall champion Alexis Pinturault of France finished 11th in his final race before retirement.
The women's overall title is still up for grabs and standings leader Mikaela Shiffrin was in front after the first leg of the women's slalom. German rival Emma Aicher was fourth.
The season ends on Wednesday with a men's slalom and women's giant slalom. Norway's McGrath is looking to sew up the men's slalom title.
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