On October 27, 2023, at the age of 23 years and 191 days, Lucas Braathen surprised the ski world by retiring, amid a dispute with the Norwegian federation. On March 7, 2024, at 23 years and 323 days old, he caused a sensation again by announcing his return to the slopes next season in the colors of Brazil, his mother’s country.
“I’m going to come back and ski for Brazil. I am very proud of it,” said the best slalom rider of the 2023 season, who has five World Cup victories, during a press conference organized by his sponsor in Salzburg (Austria).
The skier with blond curls, passionate about fashion and music and very active on social networks, had sowed some clues in recent months, posting his New Year’s greetings on Instagram with a collar in Brazilian colors.
On Thursday, he also doubled his announcement with two montages on the social network, one to recap his first part of his career with a “Tusen takk” (“big thank you”, in Norwegian) accompanied by a heart and flag of his native country.
An unprecedented opportunity for Brazil
Twenty minutes later, he posted three self-portraits in the colors of Brazil accompanied by the message “The time has come, Brazil: let’s dance”, an allusion to dancing between the slalom poles, and this time in Portuguese.
The Norwegian federation allowed him “to transfer his points” acquired in the World Cup under his new sporting nationality, he explained, relieved to leave on good terms after a long conflict over his image rights, which This was amplified in the fall of 2023 when he participated in an advertising campaign for a clothing brand competing with the one that sponsors the federation.
The exuberant champion represents an unprecedented chance for Brazil to secure its first podiums in the Alpine Ski World Cup, as well as at the 2025 Worlds in Saalbach (Austria) and the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina (Italy).
Braathen is also a talented giantist. It was in this discipline that he won his first World Cup victory, at just 20 years old, in October 2010, in Sölden (Austria). He also experienced the first major setback in his career when he fell a few months later in the giant Adelboden (Switzerland), tearing the ligaments in his right knee.