Lucas Pinheiro Braathen aims to redefine ski culture for good
A few months ago you said, “I'm done.” Now you're back. What’s been happening since that moment?
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen took a step back from the scene
© Stefan Voitl / Red Bull Content Pool
How did you spend the time after your retirement?
The first thing I did after resigning was spend some time with my family in Kitzbühel [Austria], where I have a lot of history from my career. We just hiked the mountains and tried to get away from the whole situation. Then I went home and met up with my team-mates to have a farewell dinner. Exiting the team was the most painful thing besides also losing the ability to ski for a living. And then I booked a one-way ticket to Brazil, went and spent time with family and friends. To get away from the city and only be surrounded by nature, I went to this island outside of São Paulo called Ilhabela. I was pretty much there until Christmas. For New Year’s, I went skiing in Saint Moritz [Switzerland] with my girlfriend and her family.
Exiting the Norwegian team was the most painful thing besides losing the ability to ski for a living
And by that point, the alpine skiing season had kicked in again…
Obviously, for every race that went by, it started getting tougher and tougher to watch them and not to be a part of the races themselves. My biggest ski partners let me know that if I ever wanted to come back, they would find a way to support that. At some time in January, I took them up on their offer and asked if that was still a possibility.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen's enthusiasm is clear in his performance
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
Who were these partners?
Red Bull, Atomic and Oakley. After knowing that there was a base on which we could build off, we reached out and got in contact with the Brazilian Federation to hear about the possibility of representing 200 million people. That is something I look at today as perhaps one of the most beautiful aspects of this project. I'm very, very proud of that, and obviously very nervous. It feels like a big responsibility.
How has your Brazilian side affected you, and how will it affect the next phase?
It’s half of me, you know! I was raised with a Brazilian mother and a Norwegian father. I'm very privileged to have a mother who was so persistent in me learning Portuguese growing up. I've always looked at me being mixed as a superpower of mine. It was something that I was very insecure about when I was a kid living in Norway, but something that I grew to be very, very proud of. And I would say that I'm an emotional person, I feel that helps me to do the things that I pursue for the right reasons. And, obviously, if we're going to start talking about being sporty, the explosiveness of a Brazilian is something that pays off well in the technical disciplines. You can really see that in my skiing! I am one of the most explosive skiers on tour.
The explosiveness of a Brazilian is something that pays off well
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen at his explosive best
© Stefan Voitl / Red Bull Content Pool
And how about your Norwegian side?
What I will always have to thank Norway for is its very humble culture. I come from a culture where no one is bigger than the team. We speak about what we think we are able to achieve, but we don't speak about how good we are, and how great the things are that we have achieved. Being a very open and eccentric person, I'm also very open about my ambitions – and I'm not afraid to say them out loud, but I do consider myself a humble athlete. I would also say the structure, adapting and creating the method of growth and development as an athlete is something that I have my father to thank for.
You appeared at Copenhagen Fashion Week while you were away from competitive skiing. What does fashion mean to you?
I've used fashion as one of the biggest platforms to show my differences and to challenge the community of sports by showing that you can achieve results and be a great athlete while still having a different personality or interest. In all of my campaigns and my collaboration projects, I’ve been wanting to send that message in a new way. I'm very excited to see how I can merge fashion with sports. I really feel like it's the golden time and it's meant to be because of the way that we're seeing sports and fashion merge. It's so funny with the strict results-based world of sports, and the world of infinite creativity which has no limits or judgements.
Does it mean that we are going to see you compete in more amazing outfits?
That's my goal.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen announces his return to the slopes
© Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool
I’ll be representing 200 million [people], not five million, which is obviously an immense pressure to deal with
Do you think after this break you're coming back stronger?
With every big choice there are upsides and there are downsides. I am very aware that this is a big choice. It's a drastic choice with very high ambitions. In my first race of the upcoming season, I’ll be representing 200 million [people], not five million, which is obviously an immense pressure to deal with, along with the special story of actually resigning and then coming back. Naturally, it adds pressure. I'm also a person that is very open about his ambitions. I'm back to become the best. I'm not back to participate. And I'm proud to say that out loud.
