Braathen has a dispute with the association
Dazzling ski star throws down at the start of the season
October 27, 2023, 1:47 p.m
Painted fingernails, eye-catching fashion, long, shaggy hair: Lucas Braathen stands out in the ski circus. Now the Norwegian is shocking with the end of his career. Immediately before the start of the World Cup winter, the 23-year-old announced his immediate retirement. The trouble with his association is heavy.
The Norwegian Lucas Braathen caused a bang one day before the start of the Alpine Ski World Cup. The 23-year-old young star, one of the scene’s most dazzling figures, announced his immediate resignation at a press conference in Sölden. The men’s first giant slalom of the winter takes place there on Sunday (10 a.m. and 1 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport).
The trigger is a dispute with the Norwegian association over personal and marketing rights. At the end of September, Braathen advertised for a Swedish clothing brand that is not one of the Norwegians’ official suppliers.
Braathen emphasized that the association had “treated him disrespectfully” and that he was now “happy” for the first time in six months. He has “almost always chosen to do what makes me happiest. That’s what’s important to me.” For him it’s not about lucrative sponsorship contracts or about “being the best in the world after my last race.” Braathen won five World Cup races in giant slalom and slalom and the overall ranking in slalom last winter.
Braathen, with tears in his eyes, emphasized in his 20-minute monologue that he had always sworn to himself that he would only continue with his sport “until the day when it no longer makes me so happy.” Now he feels “free for the first time in years.”
Association often in disputes with stars
The 23-year-old is not the first Norwegian ski athlete to have a dispute with his own association. The Skiforbundet forces all members of its teams to only use the outfitters specified by them. All the big stars like Johannes Kläbo, Petter Northug (both cross-country skiing) and Henrik Kristoffersen (alpine skiing) have had heated arguments with the association because of this.
However, the public and the media are on the side of the officials in this dispute. Braathen therefore criticized the fact that he had been subjected to “a media campaign against me for several months, claiming that I was an egoist, that I didn’t think about the community and that I was greedy.” Most recently, the Braathen association had imposed a fine for his offense. However, he had not paid this until Thursday. The big bang followed on Friday.