KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) —Olympic champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathenwas fastest in the first run of a World Cup giant slalom on Saturday with Marco Odermatt almost one second back in fifth.
Slovenia World Cup Alpine Skiing
Pinheiro Braathen'shistoric gold-medal win for Brazillast month pushed Odermatt down to silver, and he is the Swiss star's closest challenger in theseason-long giant slalom standings.
On a sunny 4 Celsius (39 Fahrenheit) day in Slovenia, Pinheiro Braathen took a 0.14-second lead over Stefan Brennsteiner. Olympic bronze medalist Loïc Meillard was third with 0.35 to make up in the afternoon run.
Odermatt got the best snow conditions wearing the No. 1 start bib, but his time was 0.92 back.
The 28-year-old Swiss is chasing a fifth straight title in the giant slalom standings and started Saturday with a 103-point lead over Pinheiro Braathen and two races left.
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Pinheiro Braathen is on track to earn 100 points for the win with just the season-ending race March 25 at Hafjell, Norway, left on the giant slalom calendar. Odermatt's fifth place would be worth 45 points, leaving him 48 ahead.
Odermatt already has effectively won a fifth straight overall World Cup title.
He began racing Saturday with a huge lead of 687, over Pinheiro Braathen, and his rivals don't compete in enough disciplines to close the gap over the next 2½ weeks.
AP skiing:https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
