Lucas Pinheiro Braathen benefits from Marco Odermatt’s failure at the World Cup final and takes the giant slalom ball. Fabian Gratz gives away a podium finish.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the last giant slalom of the season. The Olympic champion in this discipline benefited from the failure of alpine dominator Marco Odermatt on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) and thus also won the giant slalom ball. Loic Meillard came second (+0.58 seconds), Atle Lie McGrath came third (+0.87 seconds).
The German giant slalom specialist Fabian Gratz was in a fantastic fourth place at halftime, but fell back to tenth place in the second run. Anton Grammel was the best German in seventh place. Jonas Stockinger rounded off a top German day in eleventh place.
Odermatt sails out of the run
The race started with a bang: Marco Odermatt started the race first with the red jersey – and didn’t get far: Because the Swiss approached a transition too directly, he was lifted out, he sailed over the crest and struggled to get back into the race. Two goals later, the 28-year-old was finally too late, Odermatt was out, the chance to end the season with a win was gone, and the loss was fatal for the ball fight.
For his pursuer in the race for the overall giant slalom victory, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, this now meant that he had to come fourth and at best leave behind the Swiss Loic Meillard, who also still had a chance. The technology specialist laid the foundation for the overall giant slalom victory in the first round: the half-Norwegian, half-Brazilian approached the summit that was Odermatt’s undoing in a tactically clever way, chose the slightly rounder line and picked up a little speed. The smart drive paid off: the 25-year-old was already leading at halftime and also put in a fabulous run in the deciding run – the ball could no longer be taken away from him.
Braathen is writing again Brazilian Ski history
Braathen won the first Alpine trophy for Brazil and his second overall. In the 2022/23 season he already won the overall slalom ranking – but at that time he was still representing his fatherland Norway.
The half-Brazilian, half-Norwegian has been driving for Brazil since 2023. This season he wrote Brazilian skiing history several times: at the slalom in Levi he celebrated the first World Cup victory for the Latin American country, and in February he raced to the first Olympic gold medal at the Winter Games for Brazil in the giant slalom.
Braathen – not just exceptional on the slopes
In recent years, Braathen has become a showman in the ski circuit – on and off the slopes. He celebrated great success in ski racing with his private team. He expresses his creativity not only in quick swings, but also through dance, fashion and music: he designs clothes, DJs and dances Samba in the finish area of World Cup races.
In Brazil he is now known beyond the small winter sports bubble. With his gold coup at the Olympics, Braathen made it to the front pages of all the country’s newspapers and news sites, and his relationship with a Brazilian actress also interested the gossip press.
DSV ended Giant slalom season strong
The DSV riders Jonas Stockinger and Anton Grammel also performed well in their last World Cup appearance this season – with seventh and eleventh place, they ended what was, from a German perspective, a fantastic winter. The “young wild ones” – Grammel, Gratz and Stockinger – showed quick turns and good results: Grammel made it into the top ten twice, Gratz showed in Alta Badia with a fifth place and best running time in the second round. Over the course of the season, Stockinger also worked his way closer to the top in the world and promptly finished in the points in his first World Cup final.
Germany’s Anton Grammel in action
Pinturault is driving the last race of his career
The German giant slalom drivers are slowly getting going, but another career came to an end on Tuesday: Alexis Pinturault drove the very last race of his long and successful career at the giant slalom in Hafjell. The Frenchman completed a total of 355 World Cup races (only 9 drivers have more), achieving 34 victories. Pinturault was a model all-rounder – his 77 podium places were spread across giant slalom, combined, slalom, super-G and parallel races. He won eight World Cup medals, including three gold and three Olympic medals and the big ball for overall victory in the 2020/21 season.
France’s Alexis Pinturault is splashed with champagne in the finish area
