BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wouldn't change the way he was flying through the course in Monday's Olympic slalom.
Sure, he fell in the first run. Sure, it ended any hopes of another medal.
But that charge, that no-holding-back approach from the Brazilian ski racer also led him to a gold two days before in the giant slalom at the Milan Cortina Games. It was a gold that gave South America its first medal at a Winter Games.
A gold that had Brazilians celebrating back home and everyone from the nation’s president to Brazilian soccer great Ronaldinho sending praise his way.
It's a fine line in ski racing, between pushing too much and holding back just enough, and he experienced both spectrums.
“You’ve got to ski with your heart and you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got, and that’s what I did," Pinheiro Braathen said. “But the sport of Alpine skiing, what makes it the art that it is, is a fine balance between strategy, technique and intensity.”
It was a simple mistake, he acknowledged. One moment, Pinheiro Braathen was in a rhythm, his time fast and his skis singing. The next, his ski was sliding out from under him and he was tumbling to the snow, sliding down the course.
With that, the Brazilian ski racer's Olympics were over. A "DNF” — did not finish.
“Of course I’m conflicted. Oh man, this sport,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “It brings you up to the sky and it just slams you back into reality equally as fast.
“I take with me a lot of growth, from both beautiful and amazing experiences, and I take with me what happened today. That gold was a product of all the highs and the lows equally as much.”
The 25-year-old Pinheiro Braathen comes from a family where his mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He started racing for Norway until abruptly retiring before the 2023 season, only to return a year later representing Brazil. His country celebrated his gold medal, which just so happened to coincide with Carnival.
Nothing could take away that feeling — not even a wipeout.
“This means the world to me, it means everything,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “Every time I step on that start gate, that’s all that matters to me. Yeah, a complicated sensation as we stand here right now. Of course, it goes without saying that I’m so beyond proud. I still have this sun inside of me that’s just blossoming, and I’m just so happy.”
It was tricky conditions for the racers, with the snow heavily falling and the fog making visibility difficult.
“This is a course you have to absolutely get after,” he said. “You have to push. You have to create everything yourself. I did so, but you have to do it with composure.”
It has been an emotional few days for Pinheiro Braathen, with so many reaching out. He's trying to soak it all in — even the lows from a fall.
“I’ve come to the stage in my career where I’ve learned to embrace all of the failures as well with gratitude because I know what that results in,” he said. “Growth is the answer.
“What I’ve been able to prove myself to the greatest extent, perhaps, is that daring to be who I am is my source of happiness, and happiness for me is my definition of success.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen reacts at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen skis down after crashing during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
DUBLIN (AP) — Police removed protesters Saturday to reopen Ireland's only oil refinery as a fifth day of disruptive demonstrations over the soaring price of fuel left many gas pumps dry and threatened to cripple transportation across the country.
Trucks and tractors continued to block access to vital fuel depots and a major port, and vehicles blocking traffic led to closures of part of the main highway around Dublin, the capital, as well as sections of other major roadways.
Irish police put all officers on notice they could be called to duty over the weekend and the military was prepared to use heavy equipment to remove trucks and tractors blocking facilities and roadways as the government renewed talks to resolve the dispute.
The protests began Tuesday and have grown as word spread on social media, leading truckers, farmers, and taxi and bus operators to stage blockades and call for caps on fuel prices or cuts to excise or carbon taxes.
Government officials, who had already introduced measures to ease the burden of price rises, have been baffled over the rationale behind the protests because the global price spike is due to the conflict in the Middle East that has restricted oil exports.
Prime Minister Micheál Martin said Friday that the country was on the brink of turning tankers away at ports during a global shortage and was in jeopardy of losing its oil supply.
“It is unconscionable, it’s illogical, it is difficult to comprehend,” Martin told national broadcaster RTE.
Plumber Paddy Murray said he joined the protest outside the port in Rosslare because he’d paid taxes all his life and was looking for the government to help him with the cost of living.
“We can’t continue to do business with the cost of fuel, cost of wages, everything,” Murray told RTE. “We need somebody to help. It’s the government’s here like, to, represent us. You know, do your job. We’re the working lads that keep everything going. We’re the working lads that pay taxes.”
More than a third of the 1,500 service stations had run out of fuel Saturday and that number was expected to grow dramatically if the roadblocks remain, Fuels for Ireland chief executive Kevin McPartlan said.
Reopening the Whitegate refinery in County Cork will help restore some service.
At midday, police vans from the public order unit rolled into the refinery to clear the protesters as the military stood by to assist. Officers used pepper spray, and video on RTE showed several officers dragging a protester from a tractor.
A convoy of seven fuel delivery trucks from different companies was escorted to the refinery, according to footage posted on X by police. Another police video showed tanker trucks leaving the Foynes Port fuel hub in Limerick after protesters let them through.
Two weeks ago, the government approved a range of measures to cut fuel prices, including a temporary reduction in excise taxes on motor fuels, expansion of a rebate for truckers and bus operators that use diesel fuel, and extension of a program that helps low-income people with their heating costs.
But those reductions were quickly overtaken as international prices continued to rise.
Protests began with slow-moving convoys that restricted access to some of the busiest streets in Dublin and blocked fuel depots that supply half the country. Some protesters slept in their vehicles overnight, demanding that the government speak with them.
People took to the streets of Dublin in support of the protest Saturday and tractors slowly rolled through the streets of Cork.
Protesters shut down the road leading to Rosslare Europort, a major entry point for freight and passenger ferries in Wexford, and stranding cargo there. The port will reach capacity Sunday, Harbormaster Tom Curran told RTE.
Protesters make their way to O'Connell Street during the fifth day of a National Fuel Protest, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Tractors block O'Connell Street on the fifth day of the National Fuel Protest, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
A protester sits on O'Connell Street in the heart of Dublin City center during the fifth day of a National Fuel Protest which has taken hold across Ireland, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Tractors block O'Connell Street on the fifth day of the National Fuel Protest, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Tractors block O'Connell Street on the fifth day of the National Fuel Protest, in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
A man crosses a road where vehicles are parked on O'Connell Street, on the second day of a national fuel protest against rising fuel prices, in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday April 8, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
A man walks in between vehicles parked on O'Connell Street on the second day of a national fuel protest against rising fuel prices, in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday April 8, 2026. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
