2023-10-27 16:33:53
“I’m hanging up, it’s over for me. » Present at a press conference this Friday in Sölden, Austria, Lucas Braathen surprised the entire ski world. On the track where he won his first World Cup victory in 2020 and where he was to compete on Sunday, the Norwegian ski hopeful announced his retirement at just 23 years old.
“For the first time in at least six months, I am happy after making this decision. For the first time in years, I feel free,” he explained. To justify himself, Braathen briefly returned to his conflict with his federation. The two parties have disagreed for several years over the image rights of athletes and the conflict amplified this fall when the young champion, passionate about fashion, participated in an advertising campaign for a competing clothing brand. which sponsors the federation, which announced that a fine would be imposed.
” You can not do that ! »
“In order for me to continue skiing in this system, I don’t just have to put my dreams aside. I also have to put my joy aside. I’m not ready to do that,” added the whimsical Norwegian skier. For their part, federation officials expressed their “total surprise”. “I sincerely regret that Lucas has come to this conclusion,” reacted President Tove Moe Dyrhaug in a press release. “At the same time, we can only respect the decision he made.”
???????? Luke Braathen, that’s :
– 69 starts in CDM, 5 victories (3 in slalom, 2 in giant) and 12 podiums
– a 7th place in the SL of the 2023 Worlds (while the title was in his grasp…)
– a crazy look, an iconoclastic character as we like them… pic.twitter.com/Gvk8wjy1Hx
— FX Rallet ❄️ (@FX_Rallet) October 27, 2023
Shortly after this announcement, other athletes paid tribute to him. ” You can not do that ! Guys like you are so important in our sport,” immediately reacted French downhiller Johan Clarey, who retired last March at the age of 42. The German Felix Neureuther ironically proposed to marry the Norwegian so that he could take German nationality and change federation. “My wife would be totally fine with that,” he warned.
Before retiring, Lucas Braathen won five World Cups. Last year he won his first trophy, the small slalom globe, after a superb season which saw him reach the podium seven times in the World Cup, including three times on the highest step (two in slalom, one in giant).
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