Kristoffersen takes GS to deny Pinheiro Braathen a first-ever Alpine skiing World Cup win for Brazil

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Henrik Kristoffersen won his first World Cup giant slalom in three years on Saturday, denying runner-up Lucas Pinheiro Braathen what would have been Brazil's first ever top-level victory in Alpine skiing.

Pinheiro Braathen improved from seventh after the opening run as he led the race with only first-run leader Kristofferson to come down.

The Norwegian lost more than half of his advantage but still finished a commanding 0.41 seconds ahead of his former teammate, who switched nations and returned to the circuit competing for Brazil this season after a year off.

“For sure, it means a lot. It was a really nice race, really good conditions,” Kristoffersen said.

The Norwegian was the 2018 Olympic silver medalist and 2019 world champion, and had his eighth World Cup win in the discipline but first since triumphing here in March 2022.

Swiss star Marco Odermatt, who trailed Kristoffersen by 0.15 after the opening run, dropped to third.

Odermatt smashed a ski pole against the boarding of the finish area after he finished 0.11 behind Pinheiro Braathen.

“When you start with an advantage, you want to keep it until the finish," said Odermatt, who is the Olympic and three-time World Cup GS champion.

No other skier than Kristoffersen or Odermatt has won in the seven GS races held on the Podkoren course since 2019, with the Norwegian winning it four times.

Pinheiro Braathen came close to ending the streak but had to settle for his fourth podium result since his switch to the Brazilian federation.

Joan Verdu of Andorra was third after the opening run but finished ninth.

River Radamus placed 12th after posting the second-fastest time in the final run on the hill where his former teammate Ted Ligety won a record six times between 2008 and 2014.

World champion Raphael Haaser finished seventh in his first race since winning gold on home snow in Saalbach-Hinterglemm two weeks ago.

The Austrian men’s team has not won any of the 34 World Cup races since Manuel Feller won a slalom in February 2024, matching its worst series of winless events in 1991-92.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen celebrates winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, winner of an an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, and third-placed Switzerland's Marco Odermatt congratulate each other at the finish area, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, center ,winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, celebrates on the podium with second-placed Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, left, and third-placed Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, listens to the national anthem, next to second-placed Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, left, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, left, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, hugs second-placed Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Austria's Raphael Haaser competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Andorra's Joan Verdu competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana pushed Tuesday to extradite a California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills, setting up a likely test of laws designed to protect telehealth providers who ship abortion pills nationwide.

This is the second time Louisiana has pursued an out-of-state doctor under its abortion restrictions, with Republican Gov. Jeff Landry saying on social media that he wants to bring the abortion provider “to justice.” The two criminal cases pit Louisiana, which has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, against jurisdictions that have enacted what are known as shield laws for providers who facilitate abortions from afar in states with bans.

“Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion,” Landry said in a post X announcing he'd sent the extradition paperwork. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment

Remy Coeytaux, a physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, faces a criminal charge of abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Tuesday. If convicted, the doctor could face up to 50 years in jail and fines, Murrill said.

An email and a telephone message seeking comment were left for Coeytaux.

According to court documents, he is accused of mailing mifepristone and misoprostol in 2023 to a Louisiana woman who sought the medication through Aid Access, a European online telemedicine service. The woman took the pills in combination to end her pregnancy, investigators wrote in the indictment, which says authorities confirmed Coeytaux as the sender.

Murrill told The Associated Press she believes this “is not the only time he sent abortion pills into our state” and that “it probably won't be the last time we will indict him.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal advocacy group that is representing Coeytaux against civil charges, stressed that the criminal charge in Louisiana is an allegation.

“While we can’t comment on this matter itself, one thing is clear — the state of Louisiana is going after doctors for allegedly harming women, yet they are enforcing an abortion ban that puts women’s lives at risk every day,” Nancy Northup, president of the group, said in a written statement.

Coeytaux is also the subject of a separate federal lawsuit filed in July in Texas, where a man alleges the doctor illegally provided abortion medication to his girlfriend.

Medication abortion has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration since 2000. Louisiana bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest. Physicians convicted of providing abortions face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines. Last year, state lawmakers passed additional restrictions targeting out-of-state prescribers and reclassified mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances.

The law came after an arrest warrant was issued in Louisiana in a separate case for a New York doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to a pregnant minor. In that case, officials said the minor’s mother ordered the medication online and directed her daughter to take it. The mother was later arrested, pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.

That case appeared to be the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Louisiana also sought that doctor’s extradition, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul refused, saying her state’s shield laws were designed to protect providers who offer abortion care to patients in states with bans or where telehealth prescribing is restricted. New York and California are among eight states with such protections, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.

FILE - Mifepristone tablets sit on a table at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Ames, Iowa, July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)