“I felt like Superman”
Ski star Braathen creates something historic
Updated on January 11, 2025 – 3:45 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
For Lucas Pinheiro Braathen it wasn’t just a podium finish. The 24-year-old came second in Adelboden and achieved something historic.
He threw his arms up and screamed his joy. He had a ski in one hand and a stick in the other. When Lucas Pinheiro Braathen stepped onto the podium in Adelboden, he was beaming from ear to ear. Fans celebrated the 24-year-old’s second place and held the Brazilian flag high.
The native Norwegian was on the podium for the first time since changing nations. You could clearly see his joy. And it almost became a victory, because the Frenchman and Olympic slalom champion Clément Noël was only two hundredths ahead of Braathen. But even so, it was the best result after his comeback – and the first World Cup podium for Brazil.
Braathen told ORF: “Adelboden is really special, this is a perfect moment for me. It’s too good to be true. I live for these moments, I felt like Superman today.”
Braathen has been competing for Brazil, his mother’s home country, since this season. The ski racer competed for Norway until October 27, 2023 – and then surprisingly announced the end of his career.
This was preceded by a dispute with the Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF) over its marketing rights. Braathen appeared in an advertising campaign for the “J.Lindeberg” brand in 2023. This is a competitor to the brand “Helly Hansen”, which in turn is a partner of the Norwegian association. There have been repeated disputes between athletes and the association in Norway over marketing rights. Unlike other associations, the marketing of Norwegian athletes is regulated uniformly by the Ski Association.
Braathen and the currently injured Norway star Alexander Aamodt Kilde demanded control for their own image rights. The dispute between Braathen and the association went so far that the ski star took the consequences and put an end to his career. At the time, Braathen said he felt “free for the first time in years.” Since this season he has come back from early retirement and is in fifth place in the overall World Cup.