Ski racing, by design, requires lightning fast reflexes. Incoming gates, minute modifications within the snow floor, gusts of wind: while you’re competing in a mountain surroundings, you must keep in your toes. What normally isn’t a part of the ever-changing ski racing equation, nonetheless, is different skiers. Possible accidentally, that establishment modified whereas Brazilian-Norwegian racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was rushing down the course in what seemed to be a coaching session.As he rounded a gate, a skier slid into his approach and blocked his path. Braathen solely had just a few moments to react. Faucet or click on the embedded video beneath to look at.The 2026 POWDER Picture Annual is right here! Search for a print copy on a newsstand close to you, or click on right here to have a duplicate shipped on to your entrance door.
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That, proper there, is what separates Olympians like Braathen from the remainder of us. Quite than panicking, he shortly adjusted his edges and dodged gracefully across the interloper. If I had been the one racing down the course that day, I might’ve earned myself a ticket to the ER—the errant skier most likely would have ended up in an ambulance, too.Braathen is gearing up for his second Olympic look in 2026. The racer appeared on the final Winter Video games in Beijing, however didn’t find yourself ending in both of the occasions he competed in, slalom and big slalom.His races through the 2024-25 World Cup circuit had been extra fruitful. Braathen completed the circuit with ten top-five finishes, together with a fourth-place through the finals in Solar Valley, Idaho. The season additionally included a novel accolade—at Beaver Creek, Colorado, Braathen grew to become the primary Brazilian skier to face on the World Cup podium.
Picture: KERSTIN JOENSSON/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Beforehand, Braathen competed for Norway, the place was born to a Brazilian mom and a Norwegian father. In 2024, Braathen introduced that he would as a substitute symbolize Brazil. Whereas he was born in Oslo, he spent a few of his youth in South America. “My love for sports activities was discovered within the streets of São Paulo, enjoying soccer with my mates and cousins. It feels meant to be,” he mentioned in his announcement, based on Pink Bull.When the World Cup season kicks off, Braathen could have one other alternative to impress his Brazilian followers. Hopefully he received’t should dodge any extra skiers within the meantime.
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