Lucas Braathen: "A podium in Beijing would be a Norwegian and a Brazilian result"

One of the recent revelatory athletes in the world of winter sports makes a point of remembering his more tropical roots. He is proud of them. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, 21, is Norwegian like his father, Bjorn, his mother, Alessandra, is Brazilian.

His parents are great examples to him. Bjorn taught him to go further, to innovate, to think and do things differently while Alessandra added the affection and love. The basis for everything Lucas does, he says, comes from his Brazilian "half". "It's my favorite word in Portuguese: love (amor). With love, you're happy, and being happy is all I want. It's a beautiful word that attracts good things," he reflects.

A little in English and a little in impeccable Portuguese, he spoke to Olympics.com about this great period of his career, what inspires him and his connection to Brazil, days before the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which start 4 February.

Braathen is in a good place in Alpine skiing right now, a sport he has been practising since he was nine years old. He won his first ever World Cup race, in giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in the 2020/2021 FIS World Cup season.

This current 2021/22 season, he won his second, a famous, thrilling, history-making win in slalom in Wengen, Switzerland, engraving the date of 16 January 2022 on the minds of Alpine ski fans everywhere.

Having made a big error on the first of two runs in Wengen, Braathen did not even imagine he would qualify for the second run as only the top 30 qualify. "I was returning to the hotel after the first run because of a serious mistake. I was packing my things when the coach said, 'Wait, you're going to have the second'."

Having finished 29th, he was the second to compete on the final run, as skiers descend