The Brazilian, born in Norway, arrived just 0s18 behind Austrian Marco Schwarz after the two descents of the alpine ski competition.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen This Sunday he won second place in the Alta Badia stage, in Italy, of the Giant Slalom World Cup. The Brazilian, born in Norway, arrived just 0s18 behind Austrian Marco Schwarz after the two descents of the alpine ski competition.
This is Braathen’s seventh podium under the Brazilian flag, his third in giant slalom, which is not his specialty. Previously, he also won silver at Beaver Creek, USA, and Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. In slalom, the Brazilian won gold in the stage in Levi, Finland, silver in Adelboden, Switzerland, and bronze in Kitzbühel, Austria, and Hafjell, Norway, all this year.
This Sunday, Lucas Braathen arrived just 0s18 behind Marco Schwarz, who won his sixth gold medal in the last seven races held on the classic Gran Risa course, with a total time of 2min35s02. Another Austrian, Stefan Brennsteiner, completes the podium, in third position, 0s22 behind the leader.
Braathen made a strategic second run after finishing fifth in the first attempt and, with the sixth fastest time, managed to move into the top three overall. Thanks to this result, the 25-year-old skier moved from 9th to 6th place in the giant slalom world rankings.
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This Monday, the Brazilian returns to the snowy track of Alta Badia to compete in the slalom, a competition in which he occupies 3rd place in the World Cup, behind the Norwegian Timon Haugan and the Frenchman Paco Rassat. The descents are scheduled for 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. (Brasilia time).
Meet the Brazilian ski star
The main hope of giving Brazil an unprecedented medal at the Winter Games, which will be held in February 2026, in the cities of Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo, also in Italy, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is a Norwegian skier naturalized in Brazil, the country for which he has been competing since May 2024.
At the time, he had just taken a five-month break after announcing his retirement from the sport in 2023, amid disagreements with the Norwegian Ski Federation over image rights. Braathen obtained the release of the entity, through a letter, to join the Brazilian Confederation of Snow Sports (CBDN).
Born in Oslo, Norway, the 25-year-old skier also goes by the surname Pinheiro, named after his mother, Brazilian Alessandra, who was given it because of her relationship with Norwegian Björn Braathen, whom he met on a flight to Miami in the 1990s.
Norway is a powerhouse when it comes to winter sports, and it was under the Nordic country’s flag that Lucas became a slalom champion in the 2023 season of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, the main international circuit of the genre. There, as in other countries where skiing is popular, the Norwegian-Brazilian is a star. This status, however, is not above his passions, linked to the culture of Brazil and cultivated during the periods he spent in São Paulo and Campinas with his maternal family.
“I want to bring that feeling, the Brazilian way, that atmosphere, that connection with sport to my winter sport. That doesn’t exist in my sport. I want to be the product of all my inspirations, which are not just skiers, it’s the people who make art, painting, music and soccer players here in Brazil… Ronaldinho, Neymar, Ronaldo Fenômeno,” the young skier said in an interview with Stadiumin clear Portuguese and with a strong accent.
During his childhood and adolescence, Braathen visited São Paulo once a year. He even spent an entire semester in the capital São Paulo, where he played football in a school and on the street. At home, no more football, only on the computer, devouring the videos of the Joga Bonito series, which showed the most joyful and creative side of the world of football, from the dribbling of Ronaldinho Gaúcho to the samba of the Brazilian team in the locker room.
Lucas Braathen was once nicknamed the “Haaland of alpine skiing” by the Swiss traditional newspaper Click and the comparison does not bother him, especially because he identifies with the mentality of the Manchester City striker and shares with him the responsibility of being a phenomenon in Norwegian sport.
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