One year after his surprising retirement, the best slalom racer of our time is returning to the World Cup as a Brazilian. The dazzling eccentric Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has big plans again.
After a one-year break, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, the best slalom racer of the 2022/23 season, is aiming high again. On and off the slopes. "I'm a showman, it's all about entertainment and stories. That's why we're all here," says the 24-year-old bird of paradise on this somewhat hazy day high above Sölden. And: "I didn't come back just to be here. I want to be the best!"
That's why the first media appointment since his retirement a year ago was supposed to be high up - on the Gaislachkogel, the roof of Sölden, where he celebrated his first World Cup victory in 2020, resigned a year ago completely out of the blue and is now returning. Caipirinha is served in the "Ice Q" gourmet restaurant at the top station of the Gaislachkogel lift at 3048 m above sea level, accompanied by Pão de Queijo, Brazilian cheese balls - "his favorite food", explains the waiter.
The setting is unconventional and spectacular - eccentric, just like Braathen Pinheiro himself, who is hiding his hair under a fluffy white cap on this day, wearing wide beige trousers, a thick down jacket and a tight-fitting dark green long-sleeved shirt underneath. Around 100 media representatives have accepted the invitation.
No one like Hirscher
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, Marcel Hirscher and perhaps soon Lindsey Vonn: it's the season of the returnees. Which suits this sport, which insists on tradition and is dictated by "old white men", which stubbornly, almost doggedly resists the effects of climate change and loves to indulge in the "good old days".
The Norwegian-Brazilian returnee doesn't really fit into the ranks of those who have risen from the past. Only 24 years old, the son of a Brazilian woman from the São Paulo catchment area and a father "from the Norwegian forest", as Pinheiro Braathen describes it - and something of a wild alternative to the rigid structures in the skiing cosmos.
Pinheiro Braathen was only gone for a year, temporarily stepping down as the best slalom skier of the moment because he no longer wanted to be integrated into the structures of the Norwegian Ski Association, which in his opinion leaves athletes little scope for self-promotion. His son was no longer happy at all, says Lucas' father Björn Braathen. A year ago, he told him in Sölden that he could no longer do it. So they chose the emergency exit. This was followed by the sentence: "I'm out."
Initially, he enjoyed living out his other passions, says Pinheiro Braathen, describing his short time in sporting retirement. After a few days in Norway and a longer stay in Brazil, "the home of half my family", he performed as a DJ and ventured onto the catwalk. "But I quickly realized that I'm better as a ski racer than as a model," he says with a laugh, emulating idols such as the Brazilian ball artist Ronaldinho, the genius Steve Jobs or the crazy US basketball player Dennis Rodman.
Three coaches, his own photographer and lots of PR
Now Pinheiro Braathen is back as a Brazilian and no longer has to submit to the demands of the Norwegian association. His powerful sponsors have rolled out the red carpet for him. He has three ski coaches in his "Team Pinheiro", plus a fitness coach, a service man, a marketing manager, a personal photo and video journalist as content creator and his father as manager.
In line with his sponsors, Braathen Pinheiro also goes on the verbal offensive, speaking media-effective sentences on the Gaislachkogel such as "All my life I've tried to fit in somewhere. I spent 18 years trying to be liked by everyone, it took me 18 years to realize that it was hurting me". And: "I believe our sport will only get better if it enables more diversity."
In his new chapter, Pinheiro Braathen doesn't just want to be the best again. He also wants to change the sport of ski racing - "shake it up", "modernize it" and "bring more rock'n'roll into it", as well as "encourage Brazilians to ski" and "build a Brazilian ski army". His overarching message is: realize your dreams, be free, develop yourself. "You can be whoever and whatever you want," says Pinheiro Braathen. He himself is now once again the shining light in the Ski World Cup.
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