Sports
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen makes history with giant slalom gold
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil in action in the second run of the men’s giant slalom on Saturday at the Milan Cortina Olympics. BORMIO, Italy — Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen made South American sporting history with a stunning Olympic giant slalom gold medal in a driving blizzard on Saturday.
No athlete from the continent had ever won a medal of any color at the Winter Games, but the 25-year-old put that right with two incredible runs down the Stelvio course to hold off Swiss great Marco Odermatt by 0.58 seconds.
“I’m not even able to grasp reality,” said Pinheiro Braathen, who switched allegiance from Norway after briefly quitting the sport in 2023.
“I am just trying to get some sort of emotion here and translate it into words, though it’s absolutely impossible.”
Strains of the classic song “Mas Que Nada” rang out across the finish area as Pinheiro Braathen was serenaded by the Brazilians in the grandstand and wedged alongside the slope.
Down on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, too, the caipirinhas would surely be flowing for the soccer-mad country’s latest, and most unlikely, sporting hero.
“This unprecedented result shows that Brazilian sport has no limits,” Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva posted on X.
The skier was born to a Norwegian father and Brazilian mother. Once his parents divorced, he lived first with his mother in Brazil and later with his father in Norway.
Pinheiro Braathen has hardly emerged from nowhere.
He was the World Cup slalom champion in 2023 and is currently second in the overall standings behind Odermatt.
But no one envisioned the Brazilian opening a massive 0.95-second lead over Odermatt from bib No. 1 in a masterful first run that left his rivals scratching their heads and only seven of them within two seconds of him.
Barring a crash or an extraordinary Odermatt surge, it looked like nothing could deny him a history-making gold in the second as the weather closed in.
Odermatt, giant slalom champion in Beijing in 2022, duly cranked up the pressure with a searing second run to take the lead, leaving last man Pinheiro Braathen 54 gates from glory.
Pushing out of the start hut in his distinctive silver helmet, he leaked away some of his advantage with a few ragged turns, but with his eyes fixed on gold, the Brazilian avoided any calamities.
After crossing the line, Pinheiro Braathen collapsed to the snow before getting up and holding his skis aloft to the roaring grandstand.
He then sought out his father, Bjorn, who introduced him to the sport as a young boy, for an emotional embrace before breaking into his trademark samba celebration.
After climbing on the podium he punched the air as the Brazil anthem rang out for the first time ever at the Winter Olympics and the tears of joy began to flow.
Only three years ago, Pinheiro Braathen stunned those in his sport by quitting after being crowned World Cup champion in slalom that year following a fallout with the Norway federation, saying he could no longer express his vibrant personality.
Opening up in a documentary “Lucas Pinheiro Braathen: On My Terms”, he said skiing was making him miserable.
But he rediscovered the joy after returning to Brazil in 2024, and this season became Brazil’s first winner of a World Cup race.
All that is insignificant compared with what he achieved on Saturday, however, four years after failing to finish either of his events in his Olympic debut.
Pinheiro Braathen’s victory also stopped a Swiss sweep after all three of the gold medals so far in the men’s Alpine program had gone to Franjo von Allmen.
The Brazilian will have another shot at gold on Monday in the slalom.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 3 South Carolina holds off No. 6 LSU
Marquette Golden Eagles guard Jordan Meulemans (20) and guard Bridget Utberg (7) fights for position against UConn Huskies forward Sarah Strong (21) and guard Ashlynn Shade (12) during the fourth quarter of the game on Saturday February 14, 2026 at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tessa Johnson scored a season-high 21 points as No. 3 South Carolina beat No. 6 LSU 79-72 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Johnson shot 4-of-5 from 3-point land to power the Gamecocks (25-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) to their sixth straight win overall and 18th in a row over the Tigers (22-4, 8-4).
Raven Johnson scored a career-best 19 points for South Carolina and also tallied seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Madina Okot added a double-double of 12 points and 17 boards, while Joyce Edwards chipped in 10 points. With the win, head coach Dawn Staley became just the fourth coach in SEC history win 500 games.
LSU (22-4, 8-4) was paced by Flau’jae Johnson’s 21 points and eight rebounds, while Mikaylah Williams added 11 points. LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley — who won a national championship with South Carolina two years ago — finished with just six points on 1-of-8 shooting.
No. 1 UConn 71, Marquette 56
Azzi Fudd scored 25 points and Sarah Strong had 22 as the Huskies continued their undefeated season with a win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee.
Fudd knocked down five 3-pointers, while Strong had three steals and three blocks to lead the Huskies (27-0, 16-0 Big East). KK Arnold added 10 points, six rebounds and a career-best nine assists.
Lee Volker scored 15 points and Skylar Forbes chipped in 14 to pace the Golden Eagles (16-10, 10-7). Marquette jumped out to briefly lead by five, but the Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 36-19 for the remainder of the first half and held their double-digit advantage through the final buzzer.
Oklahoma State 75, No. 16 Texas Tech 65
Jadyn Wooten scored 16 points off the bench to guide the Cowgirls to an upset victory over the Red Raiders at home in Stillwater, Okla.
Wooten also had seven assists and was one of five players to score in double figures for Oklahoma State (20-7, 9-5 Big 12). Amari Whiting collected 13 points and 11 rebounds, Achol Akot also scored 13 points and Stailee Heard and Haleigh Timmer each had 12 apiece.
Bailey Maupin scored 19 points for Texas Tech (23-4, 10-4) and Snudda Collins added 18.
After trailing by a point at the end of the first quarter, the Cowgirls outscored the Red Raiders 22-9 in the second frame and led for the rest of the game. Oklahoma State — which led by 17 at one point — won the rebounding battle by 10 and shot 8 of 16 from 3-point land.
No. 24 Princeton 59, Cornell 38
Madison St. Rose scored 15 points to help the visiting Tigers defeat the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y.
Skye Belker scored 12 points and Fadima Tall added 11 for Princeton (20-3, 8-2 Ivy League). It was a bounce-back win for the Tigers, who lost on the road at Columbia on Friday night. Princeton has now won at least 20 games in 15 of its last 16 seasons.
Clarke Jackson and Paige Engels each scored eight points for Cornell (8-15, 3-7).
The Big Red led by as much as 10 points in the second half, but the Tigers blitzed Cornell with a 23-5 third quarter to overcome that deficit and take the lead. Princeton scored 13 points off 20 Cornell turnovers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Texas rides strong second half to road win over Missouri
Feb 14, 2026; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers forward Trent Pierce (11) dribbles the ball as Texas Longhorns forward Cole Bott (1) defends during the first half of the game at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images Dailyn Swain poured in 25 points as Texas pulled away from Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night in Columbia, Mo., for its fourth straight victory.
Matas Vokietaitis scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (16-9, 6-5 Southeastern Conference), who outscored the Tigers 52-37 in the second half. Jordan Pope added a total of 15 points as Texas improved its NCAA Tournament credentials.
Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone each scored 16 points and Anthony Robinson II added 11 for the Tigers (17-8, 7-5), who suffered just their second loss in 15 games at home.
The foul-plagued game was played at a ponderous pace. While Texas made 21 of 23 free throws, Missouri missed 12 of 38 from the line.
The Tigers moved out to an early 12-7 lead spurred by Stone, who hit a 3-point jumper and drove for a dunk, and Mitchell, who scored twice inside.
Simeon Wilcher stopped that run with a 3-pointer for the Longhorns, who eventually pulled ahead 19-18 with 7 minutes left in the first half on Nic Codie’s three-point play in the lane.
The teams exchanged leads for the rest of the half. With 1.9 seconds left, Tramon Mark converted a three-point play in the lane to put Texas up 33-31 at the break.
With Missouri starting center Shawn Phillips Jr. limited to seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Texas grabbed eight offensive rebounds and outscored the Tigers 22-14 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
Swain hit a short jumper to put Texas up 41-37 with 15:44 left to play, then Nicholas Randall pulled the Tigers even with a pair of dunks.
The Longhorns responded with a 16-6 run, triggered by Mark’s three-point play, to move ahead 57-47 with 10:11 left to play.
Missouri cut its deficit to seven points, but Texas pushed its lead to 67-55 with 7:05 left with Pope and Swain hitting 3-point jumpers on consecutive possessions.
The Tigers got no closer than eight points during the rest of the game. Swain’s 3-point jumper with 2:26 left extended the lead to 80-66 and iced the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Sacramento State joining MAC this year as football-only member
Sep 16, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Sacramento State Hornets running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver (25) celebrates after a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images The Mid-American Conference is going far west to add Sacramento State as a football-only member starting with the 2026 season, according to multiple reports on Saturday night.
The MAC presidents, per reports, approved the addition of the California-based Hornets, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program from 1993-2025. Sacramento State will pay an $18 million entry fee to the MAC and a $5 million fee to the NCAA to move to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, according to reports.
With this addition, the conference will retain 13 football programs with the exit of Northern Illinois on July 1, which is leaving for the Mountain West Conference and paid a $2 million entry fee.
North Dakota State, an FCS power over the last 15 years with 10 national titles in that span, also is joining the Mountain West, per reports earlier this week.
According to ESPN, North Dakota State will pay roughly a $12 million entrance fee to its new league, as well as $5 million to the NCAA in order to move up to the FBS level. Per standard NCAA arrangement, the NDSU football team will not be eligible for a bowl or College Football Playoff berth until 2028.
Sacramento State is a geographic outlier for the MAC as its first program in the Pacific Time Zone. The other programs — not including Northern Illinois — are in the Eastern Time Zone.
The Hornets went 7-5 in 2025, 5-3 in the Big Sky Conference. They will be the first university on the West Coast to go from FCS to FBS in 57 years, following Fresno and San Diego State in 1969, Yahoo Sports reported.
During the 2026-27 academic season, all Sacramento State teams except football will move to the Big West Conference.
Last June, an NCAA Division I council denied a waiver for Sacramento State to move to FBS in 2026, a goal for the program since 2024. The original hope was to join a reconfigured Pac-12 Conference that was set to return to action in 2026 with five Mountain West Conference programs.
But the Hornets program did not receive an invitation for its football program to join an existing conference. Instead, the Hornets launched a plan to leave the Big Sky Conference for the Big West Conference in all sports but football and have its football team play as an FBS independent in 2026.
When the NCAA nixed that possibility last summer, the school planned on moving forward anyway.
“We still plan to be playing FBS football in 2026,” Sacramento State president Luke Wood posted on X after the NCAA denied the school’s waiver request.
“Sacramento State has met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership, and we believe our university, our students, and the entire Sacramento region deserve major college football.”
–Field Level Media
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 3 South Carolina holds off No. 6 LSU
Texas rides strong second half to road win over Missouri
