Until this Saturday (14), Brazil had won 170 Olympic medals in history, all at the Summer Games. The 171st came incredibly in alpine skiing, with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen. The historic feat for the country at the Winter Games was celebrated in the middle of Carnival, repeating the joyous combo of the Oscars of “I’m Still Here” last year.
There were, however, those who turned up their noses. Complaints about athletes who fail to stand on the podium are frequent, but problematizing an Olympic achievement is perhaps something unheard of in these parts.
The “problem” with Lucas’ achievement would be the fact that he was not born and raised in Brazil, but in Norway, which for some would make him less Brazilian or, even worse, a “bought athlete”. Wrong premise. The skier is the son of a Brazilian mother and meets the criteria for being a natural Brazilian stipulated in the Federal Constitution. Furthermore, he fulfilled the requirements for changing his sporting nationality in 2024.
This change, which is important to highlight, was not determined by technical issues or fear of competition. Even though he was born in one of the homelands of skiing, Lucas was among the best athletes from the European country, which he represented at the Beijing 2022 Games. When he announced an early retirement in 2023, he had just become champion of the international alpine skiing circuit. The disagreements with the Norwegian federation were mainly commercial, due to the much stricter criteria adopted there to display their personal sponsors.
It was the cue for the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Brazilian Snow Sports Confederation to act, opening the doors for Lucas to compete, profit and express himself on his terms. Retirement is behind us, in a win-win scenario for everyone, except for the country that dominates the Winter Games.
Changes in sporting nationality can generate controversy, but it is not appropriate to determine how much each country has in an Olympic achievement. There are Brazilian athletes who have trained and lived abroad for many years, or who are trained by foreigners. His achievements are no less Brazilian for that reason.
The Winter Games themselves are rich in nuance. In the green-yellow delegation, there are athletes born in the country with trajectories to be applauded. For example, Nicole Silveira, who once again delivered a good performance in the skeleton; and Edson Bindilatti, bobsled veteran. There are also situations of representatives of the country, born here or abroad, who in fact have little emotional or cultural connection with Brazil.
This is not the case for Lucas, who has always shown pride in the country that recently embraced him. If commercial reasons were decisive for changing the flag, what the skier has already done — and can still do — as an idol of Brazilian sport must come first.
The most genuine recognition of the skier’s Brazilianness perhaps came from the Games organizers themselves, who played the “Victory Theme” (the one popularized in Ayrton Senna’s races) on the sound system on the Bormio track to celebrate his achievement.
Seeing part of Brazil momentarily stopping Carnival festivities to enjoy alpine skiing was great news. Discussions about sport and nationality are also not as common here as in other regions. But the world is global, and cases of dual nationality should not be scary. Swedish-American Armand Duplantis, one of the greatest athletes in the world, also chose to defend his mother’s country.
Such disputes tend to have xenophobic roots and become a prejudiced argument for defeat. Let football players of African origin who play for European teams say so. Another classic case is that of tennis player Andy Murray, who generated the “joke” about being represented by the media as British when he won and as Scottish when he lost.
Lucas is Brazilian after winning an unprecedented medal for the country. He will also be Brazilian if he does not repeat the feat in this Monday’s race (16). Let’s celebrate.
