2023-10-27 13:40:27
Lucas Braathen completely unexpectedly declared his career over on Friday. While he had been happy to provide information regarding the season’s goals in the APA interview the day before, he said on Friday at a press conference in Sölden: “I’m done. I’ve always pursued my dreams and what makes me happy. But in the last few months I wasn’t happy anymore.” Most recently he argued with the Norwegian Ski Association NSF over sponsorship guidelines.
The 23-year-old Norwegian won the crystal ball in slalom for the first time last season. He won five World Cup races, including the giant slalom in Sölden in 2020. He would have made the decision four weeks ago, Braathen explained. “Now I’m happy for the first time in six months and I feel free for the first time in years.”
The dispute with the association was one of the reasons for the resignation, said Braathen. He modeled for the fashion brand “J. Lindeberg” and apparently offended the NSF, which is equipped by “Helly Hansen”. Before Braathen, the superstars Aksel Lund Svindal and Henrik Kristoffersen had already been in a clinch with the Norwegian association leadership, which forbade them to have their own head sponsor.
In the interview on Thursday with the Austria Press Agency at the meeting of the Norwegian ski team, where Braathen appeared with his teammates, there was no sign of dissatisfaction. However, the athlete did not want to talk regarding the dispute over marketing rights and referred to the appointment on Friday.
The son of a Norwegian man and a Brazilian woman said he had a lovely summer, traveled a lot with friends and visited his family in Brazil for the first time in years. The ski camp in New Zealand was very good, but following that he only got a few days of snow on a glacier because of the warm temperatures.
His season planning also included participation in slalom and giant slalom. “My dream is to do more Super-G. But with the FIS calendar it’s not possible. Last year I made my debut in Beaver Creek, but that’s not possible this year because of the slalom in Gurgl.” In the USA he came seventh straight away.
His plan is to become an even better skier every season. But he also meets a lot of people who are not interested in skiing and have a different perspective. “This contrast is very important to me.” Regarding Sölden, he said: “It’s a difficult slope, a good slope for a skier with good technique. My focus is to work on the technique every day. I love this route, well, not love it, it’s very difficult, but I know I can ski fast.”
As can be heard, the announcement also came out of the blue for his ski company Atomic in cloudy Sölden weather. It remains to be seen how final the decision of the young man with always brightly painted fingernails is (“I always have to make sure I find a nail salon”).
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