Brazil is suddenly a contender at the skiing worlds with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen

By Canadian Press on February 13, 2025.

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — “Campeonato Mundial. Vamos Dançar.”

World championships. Let’s dance.

That was the social media message from Lucas Pinheiro Braathen on the eve of his debut for Brazil at the Alpine skiing world championships.

The dancing for Pinheiro Braathen will come on Friday and Sunday when he races the giant slalom and slalom at worlds and chases Brazil’s first medal.

The Norwegian-born Pinheiro Braathen likes to entertain. And after leaving the Norwegian team, briefly retiring and then coming back for his mother’s country of Brazil, he’s got plenty to celebrate just by being here.

Never before has Brazil had such an accomplished skier: Pinheiro Braathen has earned three podium results on the World Cup circuit this season. When he got the first, by placing second in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December, Pinheiro Braathen celebrated with a samba dance on the podium, the Brazilian flag wrapped around his waist and cowboy boots on his feet.

“He is a great character, phenomenal skier. And … he’s very Brazilian,” said Johan Eliasch, the president of the International Ski Federation. “This will definitely help our sport in Brazil. And it’s a big country and they are very passionate skiers. If you go around the (ski) area, you bump into Brazilians everywhere. Here in Austria, Switzerland, France, Colorado. They come … to ski.”

“Pinheiro,” as he refers to himself now in true Brazilian one-word-name style, also posted second- and third-place results in slaloms last month.

Pinheiro Braathen’s mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He had raced for Norway until abruptly retiring at the start of last season after getting into a dispute with the Norwegian ski federation following modeling work for a rival brand of the federation’s clothing supplier.

Last March, Pinheiro Braathen announced his comeback for Brazil, a federation that had not been represented on Alpine skiing’s World Cup circuit since 2016.

“We still love Lucas,” said Norwegian skier Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, who won a bronze in super-G last week. “It’s always good to have personalities doing the sport. And it was sad when he quit and I just love to see him back.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Lie spent a lot of time with Braathen.

“We were almost living together as friends, training together and watching TV together,” Lie said. “He is really relaxed. But sometimes he can be super stressed one week and then super relaxed another week. … He is special.”

___

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press

19
-18