Lucas Braathen will still have to do a bit of tutoring in his home country. There was a headline in the online edition of the Brazilian newspaper on Monday morning Oh Globo read, it was hidden in sports among all sorts of news about Brazilian football and read: “Lucas Braathen wins silver and takes Brazil’s first medal at the Alpine Ski World Championships”.
Admittedly, the difference between the Ski World Cup and the Ski World Championships has confused nations other than Brazil, but a small correction is necessary at this point: The Ski World Cup doesn’t take place until February – and there was a medal in the giant slalom in Beaver Creek not even for Braathen. But new shoes.
The 24-year-old had put on a pair of cowboy boots in the finish area for his performance: a samba in the snow, that has recently become the trademark of Pinheiro, who can celebrate his celebration beautifully, regardless of the footwear. The Brazilian flag, the swing of the hips, the tears, it’s all part of his identity – and part of the story he wants to tell the world with his return to the ski slopes. Even if twelve hundredths of a second were missing from perfection.
The Swiss Thomas Tumler Braathen narrowly snatched victory (for which there would have been no gold medal, to make that clear once again). And on a normal race Sunday in a normal World Cup winter, Tumler would have been the outstanding story of the weekend: The fact that a 35-year-old was on the top of the podium for the first time in his 124th race not only led to the “Birds” finishing line of Prey” piste led to much cheering among colleagues too. In fact, Tumler also crowned a perfect Swiss weekend with three victories (Murisier in the downhill, Odermatt in the Super-G), which would at best be kept quiet about in what was once the largest ski nation in Austria, but otherwise deserves the highest recognition.
Only this winter there is this dancing Brazilian who everyone is falling for and who knows how to take advantage of the spotlight. Braathen has already become an attraction in the World Cup at the beginning of December, which has above all to do with his open, warm way of life: the interaction he maintains with spectators, media representatives and simply everyone in the ski circuit is characterized by inviting enthusiasm for his work . Braathen clearly enjoys being the center of attention and being exactly the person he wants to be – the authenticity doesn’t seem artificial. It’s the real, mature Lucas dancing the Samba.
:The boundaries of the environment
Lucas Braathen is one of the world’s best skiers, he wants to market himself better – the Norwegian association forbids this. The 23-year-old then gives up, and the industry is suddenly faced with the big question: How free can an athlete be?
All of this takes place in the middle of a newly created comfort zone, independent of a large, dominant Norwegian ski association like in the past, which can quickly crush a free spirit with its machinery. Braathen has his own team around him, with people he can trust and who play to his strengths, with good marketing on Instagram and a consistently expressed interest in advancing skiing. The fact that Braathen is not only a samba dancer but also an activist with his team in the background was demonstrated on Friday by signing a letter to Fis President Johan Eliasch: a private equity investor who wanted to bring more money and a breath of fresh air into the world Sport would also be in the interests of Braathen, who, together with many other athletes, would like to put pressure on Eliasch, who initially rejects investor involvement, but likes to act as a friend of the athletes.
Braathen combines talent, Norwegian education, hard work and a free spirit
Not the Fis, but personalities like Braathen represent a newly thought concept of openness in the so-called World Cup, whose world was essentially limited to the Alpine region for decades. Exotics largely had no chance, but they are now the most interesting characters: the Brit Dave Ryding is a veteran of this movement, as is the Greek AJ Ginnis – and Braathen is the new driving force. It was “amazing” to see all the Brazilian flags in the snow: “It’s particularly special for me that grandma and grandpa can now see me on TV in Brazil. Now they finally understand what Alpine skiing is.”
However, all the marketing, the good humor and the samba performances would be worth little if Braathen didn’t deliver. Before his comeback, the question was whether he would offer great skiing in addition to big words – he has now given the answer. The fact that he returned to the highest level within months after a year’s break speaks for his incredible talent – and a little bit for his other country of origin, Norway. The basics still come from his Norwegian youth, which he spent primarily with his close friend Atle Lie McGrath and his American father Felix, who trained them both for years.
However, it is above all the underestimated hard work that brought Braathen to the podium in his comeback in December, earlier than some in his own coaching team had expected. Braathen has understood that the hard work is worth it because he can achieve a lot on skis. He is interested in fairly radical, forward-thinking. And definitely more than just silver and gold medals, even if they already awarded him those in Brazil.
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