Samba-dancing Lucas Pinheiro Braathen hopes to usher in Brazil's Alpine skiing era: "I can help bring change for a new generation" - Exclusive
The Brazilian-Norwegian is back on the World Cup - and has his eye on South America's first-ever Winter Olympic medal come 2026. He sat down with the Olympics.com Portuguese language podcast. We share the best bits.
Alpine Skiing
With the Brazilian flag tied around his waist and Brazil's first-ever medal at an Alpine skiing World Cup event draped over his neck, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen couldn't help himself: He broke into a samba dance.
It was just the way Braathen's historic achievement was meant to be celebrated, as the 24-year-old skier has made it his mission to put the South American nation on the map - on the snow.
"We live in a world where a lot of people tell you, 'No, you're from [wherever] and we don't do those things in this place, these people don't have those dreams, that's not right for you,'" Braathen tells the Olympics.com Portuguese-language podcast in an exclusive one-on-one. (We've translated select quotes into English for this article.)
"[But] what matters is that you are what makes you, and creating that feeling of success is success for me."
Braathen's story is uniquely his. Having been born to a Brazilian mother and Norwegian father, his first love was Brazil's national pastime, football. But he went skiing with his dad at age nine, and it was the first time he truly felt "at home."
"I was in a group of kids from everywhere," he remembers of the ski lesson group he was in. "And it was the first time I felt that I couldn't say 'I'm wrong' or 'I'm weird' ... because you're weird too! Your dialect is different, too, you know? It was the first time I felt like that.
"I told my father, 'This is the life I want. I love this life.'"
A comeback for Brazil - and meeting Ronaldo
To be clear: Lucas Braathen isn't new to the World Cup scene. Having split his childhood between Brazil and Norway, he competed for Norway on the international scene from 2019 to 2023, landing on 18 World Cup podiums - including five wins - and qualifying for the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
But six months after a retirement announcement in October of 2023, Braathen said he was coming back to the sport - and this time competing for his mother's native Brazil.
"Imagine you're competing in a snow sport and you're in the mountains in Austria, the United States, Sweden... all of those places and there's a guy with the Brazilian flag next to his name," Braathen explained, having said a big part of his comeback was to inspire more Brazilians to take on winter sports.
"To see my name with that flag, that is representation," he continued. "[It's a] representation of what I'm doing, and maybe I can help bring about a change for a new generation. Maybe I can bring a new sport for Brazil."
It's such a rarity to see a top-level skier from his country that Braathen had Brazilian football superstar Ronaldo in disbelief when the two met via friends in Paris.
"I told him that I'm a Brazilian skier and he didn't believe anything I said... he was laughing," Braathen recalled. "He said, 'Tell the truth.' And I go, 'Dude, I'm a professional skier at the World Cup, seriously.'"
Ronaldo is just one of many Brazilians idols for Braathen, who is yet to meet his ultimate football hero, Ronaldinho. He'd also like to link up with surfing legend Gabriel Medina, who captured bronze for Brazil at Paris 2024.
"Gabriel is an idol of mine, too," Lucas said. "Wow! His performance during Paris? It was crazy." (Medina captured the bronze medal.)
Lucas Braathen brings out his Brazilian culture
Braathen's breaking-into-samba moment at the Beaver Creek World Cup was a moment that wasn't staged or planned, but it wasn't on accident, either.
With his shift to representing Brazil on the slopes, Braathen has sought to breathe a new kind of energy into a sport that is often dominated - especially on the men's side - by Europeans.
"I think the beauty of sports is its diversity," he told Olympics.com prior to the World Cup season. "It's the difference between us athletes [as people] that makes it interesting. ... I want to be an encourager of showing your differences and showing your personality. And I feel as though that is my role within this industry and I'm happy to take on that task."
It takes Braathen back to being nine years old on the ski hill, always feeling like the different kid, he says in the podcast episode.
"Imagine, you're half Norwegian and you're half Brazilian; it's two different worlds," he explained in Portuguese, which his mother brought him up with. (He says he's still working on his Portuguese grammar.)
"My mother loves music, she loves dancing and we always had the music at home, Brazilian music," he added. "It was something I always tried to bring home to Norway. I guess that's just me: I am very happy that I have both sides."
Braathen says his favourite of music is bossa nova, a style of samba that originated in Rio de Janeiro and is more relaxed. And while he sometimes has that in his headphones atop the mountain at a World Cup startline, his mood dictates the genre, not the other way around.
"Some races I have a lot of energy, some I need to relax," he explained. "I'm going to use bossa nova for [relaxing]. When I need more energy, when I'm not feeling very connected and present, I find hip hop, techno or electronic music to help me like that... to find the level of energy that I need.
"It's totally different from each competition. But I always use music.
"The clear thing is that I was there before the start, I'm standing there alone, not talking to anyone, just listening to the music. I still have a very strong connection inside. And I want to bring that feeling, that song and that dance to the slopes with me."
Can Braathen win Brazil its first Winter Olympic medal?
Braathen has proved himself at the top of the sport, as mentioned by those 18 World Cup podiums. His consistency was so strong after the 2022 Olympics that he topped the World Cup season for Slalom - placing fourth in the overall.
There is unfinished business, too: Braathen did not finish (DNF) either Slalom or the GS.
With an eye on the podium at Milano Cortina 2026, he'd look to become Brazil's first medallist at a Winter Games - ever.
In fact, no South American athlete has ever won a Winter Olympic medal.
"[I want to] show the world that we can do everything, that Brazilians have opportunities to create every success in this world," he said. "I think that's the coolest thing about this: I think [I can be] a representation that anything is possible.
In 2022, Brazil sent a 10-member team to the Winter Games, with skeleton star Nicole Silveira finishing best among them, placing 13th. Earlier this season, Silveira claimed her first World Cup podium, too, winning the bronze at the season opener in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea.
"Brazil is such a rich country, with culture, with artists, with sports... all industries, really," Braathen said. "And I think I have an opportunity now to show the world that we can really win [an Olympic medal] in winter sports, as well.
And, he added with a laugh: "We don't have snow, imagine!"
SOLDEU, ANDORRA: Lucas Braathen of Team Norway wins the globe in the overall standings during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals Men's Slalom on March 19, 2023 in Soldeu, Andorra. (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)