Thomas Tumler earns first Alpine World Cup win; Lucas Braathen records Brazil’s first podium

Thomas Tumler became, at age 35, the second-oldest Alpine skier to earn their first World Cup win, taking a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Sunday.

Tumler prevailed by 12 hundredths of a second over Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen combining times from two runs. Braathen became the first Brazilian skier to make a World Cup podium.

Tumler was fastest in the first run by 56 hundredths over Slovenian Zan Kranjec, who ended up third.

“Last year, when the new World Cup calendar was out, and I saw Beaver Creek, I made the joke to my wife, and I said, ‘Yeah, then I will win there,’” Tumler said at the site of his first World Cup podium in 2018.

ALPINE SKIING: Full Results | Broadcast Schedule

River Radamus was the top American in seventh.

Tumler completed a Swiss sweep of the Stifel Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek after wins by Justin Murisier in Friday’s downhill and Marco Odermatt in Saturday’s super-G.

Odermatt, the three-time reigning World Cup overall champion, was eighth in Sunday’s opening run, then skied out early in his second run. He has DNFed the first two World Cup GS races this season after winning nine of the 10 GS races last season.

Tumler is the second-oldest maiden Alpine World Cup winner after Brit Dave Ryding. Ryding was 15 days older when he notched a slalom victory in January 2022.

Tumler is also the second-oldest skier to win a World Cup giant slalom after countryman Didier Cuche in 2009.

In 123 previous World Cup starts, Tumler made three podiums: third in the December 2018 Beaver Creek giant slalom, second in a parallel giant slalom in February 2020 and third in a giant slalom in March 2024.

Braathen won five World Cup races for Norway before retiring last year after a reported dispute with the Norwegian ski federation over marketing rights.

He returned this season, switching nationality to Brazil. Braathen was born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and a Brazilian mother.

“I came onto the circuit to make a difference,” he said after Sunday’s performance, which included a Samba dance in the finish area. “I came here to be myself and hopefully be an inspiration to the outcasts out there and to the people that feel a bit different to dare to follow their own path. I just think it’s such a privilege to be able to be the first one to bring the Brazilian flag, something that I’m so proud of, up to a winter sport World Cup podium.”

A South American nation has never won a Winter Olympic medal, but Brazil now has two contenders 14 months out from the Milan Cortina Games, including a registered nurse.

The men’s Alpine World Cup heads to Val d’Isère, France, for a GS and a slalom next weekend.

The women race the Stifel Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek next weekend with coverage on NBC Sports and Peacock.

Alpine World Cup Results — Beaver Creek Giant Slalom

1. Thomas Tumler (SUI) — 2:27.60
2. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA) — +.12
3. Zan Kranjec (SLO) — +.58
4. Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) — +.71
5. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) — +1.05
6. Filip Zubcic (CRO) — +1.25
7. River Radamus (USA) — +1.69
8. Luca de Aliprandini (ITA) — +1.72
9. Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR) — +1.85
10. Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT) — +1.87