The intense style that took Lucas Pinheiro Braathen to Brazil’s first gold In the giant slalom, the slalom, held this Monday (16), did not have the same outcome.
With heavy snowfall throughout the day, the track presented a high degree of difficulty, and Lucas was part of the group of 49 athletes who were unable to complete the route on the Stelvio track, in Bormio.
Sixth to start, Braathen started with a strong race and recorded the best time in the first part, surpassing the time of then leader Atle Lie McGrath, from Norway, by 0.10. In the second section, I continued at a strong pace — 0s26 below the reference — until you lose control, fall and abandon the race.
With the fall, Braathen had no chance of getting on the podium again.
After the race, the skier acknowledged that he adopted a “too intense” approach, which ended up contributing to the decisive error.
“. When I saw Atle start, I knew this would be the level. I knew I could be faster than him, but I needed to give it my all. He found the balance,” Lucas told CazéTV.
Atle Lie McGrath, from Norway, led the race.
“, I like running, I was excited for this race, to bring this Brazilian way, but I should have been more technical also. I was too intense. I wanted to bring this experience from the other day. But days like today make the athlete wake up tomorrow”, continued Lucas.
The conditions made the men’s alpine skiing final particularly treacherous. Other candidates for the podium suffered the same fate, including Brazilian Christian Oliveira, who also suffered a fall on the first descent of the slalom and was disqualified from the race.
“. We were here to make a difference, bring our colors, another mentality, another culture and celebrate this diversity in Brazil and sport. I think this gold represents the strength that exists in this diversity, something that I want to bring even more to the sport. I see that we have several Brazilian athletes who are probably growing every year, this is something very beautiful. And all of this represents my purpose in life, to make a difference and inspire others to have the courage to follow their dreams,” said Lucas.
At the time of the interview, the athlete stopped to watch Giovanni Ongaro’s descent and applauded his teammate who completed the first descent.
Ongaro finished the race in 29th place.
