Brazilian skier wins shock gold to make Winter Olympics history as first ever South American medallist

He once joked his feet were made for beaches, not skis, but how wrong Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was.

He danced a samba on the Stelvio as he stormed to Olympic giant slalom gold in Bormio, the first ever medallist from South America in the history of the Winter Olympics.

There's a reassuring natural order to alpine skiing, familiar sounds, faces and the same old nations on the podium, but Pinheiro Braathen showed no respect for that.

Swiss fans, clanking with cow bells and weighed down with flags, flooded across the border boldly predicting a podium clean sweep for their powerhouse team.

However, the 25-year-old Brazilian had other ideas, looking right at home as the snow started to fall, meaning experts need to rethink all they previously thought.

In a sport bound by tradition and altitude, it was Brazil who reached the highest peak of all and no-one was more disbelieving than Pinheiro Braathen.

"I'm not even sure if I can grasp reality as I stand here with this gold medal, it's hard to translate my emotions into words, totally impossible actually," he said.

"I hope I can inspire some kids in Brazil, that despite what they wear, despite how they look, despite where they come from, they can follow a dream and just be who they are. That's the real source of happiness in life.

"There is nothing about this I can quite believe, I was skiing completely according to my intuition and my heart and that's what enabled me to become Olympic champion. I just wanted to ski as the person I am. I know I can be the best in the world."

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Pinheiro Braathen grew up between cultures and continents. Born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and Brazilian mother, he moved to South America aged three when his parents divorced.

When his father won custody a few years later, he returned to Norway, learning to ski, albeit initially reluctantly, and making the national team, before announcing his retirement and then switching back to Brazil 18 months ago.

Leaving the well-funded Norwegian set-up for Brazil, whose team in Milano Cortina is just 14 strong, was a financial sacrifice but one he claimed allowed him to be true to himself.

Pinheiro Braathen admits his inherent Brazilian boldness often clashed with Norway's more reserved culture and that was underlined by the way he attacked both runs here.

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He claims that finally having a fixed sense of belonging, alongside a relationship with one of Brazil's most famous television stars, has been the foundation for this success.

While this was a shock, Pinheiro Braathen was not a rank outsider. He's a former world junior silver medallist and has five World Cup races to his name, including his first win for Brazil in a slalom race in Finland last November.

"I want to change this sport by being myself," he said.

"I don't want to have to rein in my personality just because the system expects me to.

"I loved to hear that national anthem, it was what I've grown up watching football. This is a full circle moment, representing Brazil at the Olympics, the place where I grew my love of sports."

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Switzerland's Marco Odermatt arrived here with the expectation of a nation on his shoulders, a serious contender to win an unprecedented three golds, such is his collection of Crystal Globes from the World Cup circuit.

But it was compatriot Franjo von Allmen who won both the men's downhill and super giant slalom and being edged into silver by a Brazilian was probably not what he had in mind when he dreamed of this week.

"We knew that Lucas could just beat himself in the second run, with this one-second advantage after his amazing first run," he said.

"We tried to attack but Lucas handled the pressure so well, that was impressive. There's no gold but I've three medals from these Olympics, I wasn't 100 percent but I should celebrate. I'm pleased it's over, now I can enjoy it."

Bormio is known for its après-ski and Brazilians for not needing much of an excuse for an all-night party.

The cow bells have rung for Switzerland all week, but on this day, they tolled to a very different rhythm.

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