The father of the Alpine Comet chose a controversial strategy:

When he was ten years old, Lucas Braathen approached his father and told him that he wanted to reach the top of the world in alpine skiing. Together, they drew up a 10-year plan based on a controversial strategy. A strategy for which they were criticized.

Ten years later, Braathen was at the top of the podium in Sölden. The first World Cup winner of his career was a given.

– I don’t really know what I’ll feel yet. For us, this is a giant who has worked with this for many years, Bjørn Frølich Braathen tells TV 2 right after his son’s victory on Sunday.

– I love it

Pappa Braathen is naturally in a good mood when TV 2 calls. He has just talked to Lucas on FaceTime and can report on the mood on the roof of Sölden.

– There the car was full of samba, he says and laughs.

– Now I take him home, there will also be a break.

Sunday’s victory will be enjoyed a bit in the coming days. Perhaps it is also worth remembering a little the work that has been done since Lucas set his high goals until the big moment on October 18, 2020.

– I’ve always skied a lot, but I’ve never been a competitor like that. I’m not a professional in sports or training, but we went through some processes and I tried to come up with a plan and a strategy for how I should reach the goal, says Dad Braathen.

He says he had to have something to take as a starting point and it became the 10,000 hour rule.

The strategy is that 10,000 hours is the number of hours of effort it takes to reach the top level at something. Be it sports, music or another area.

The Norwegian alpine kite scored its first World Cup victory

– It is a controversial strategy and not scientifically documented. But he was fascinated with that study and how to reach a world-class level. So we put that strategy last, explains Braathen.

I have criticism

Lucas started skiing relatively late, but it gave him more flavor. It didn’t take many hours of training before he told his father about the world’s ultimate goal.

– He started from scratch when he was ten years old, so we had to see how many years it was realistic to manage this amount of training. Eight years was not realistic, 15 years was a risk because then the scholarship train had passed. So we established a 10-year plan.

This meant that the alpine kite had to start a great deal of training from a young age.

– Probably didn’t use more skis than average, but it started with a lot of people in different workouts. Many thought I was pushing him too hard and we got some criticism. But I’ve never over-squeezed it, Lucas wanted it himself, Braathen notes, adding:

– I think one of the reasons he has remained injury free and has a good physique is that he developed tolerance for many workouts at a fairly young age. It has taught him to endure the pain of hard training. I think it has been an advantage for him.

Apart from ski training, there was a lot of playful training and other sports were used in the daily training. Exercise shouldn’t just be strenuous and heavy.

– We’ve done it our way. A lot has been traditional, but something less traditional like scuba training, gymnastics, and acrobatics. We think body control and motor skills are important to becoming good at alpine skiing, and we started using scuba training from an early age as part of motor training, which he thinks is fun to do, explains Braathen .

Braathen (20) praised after Sölden’s achievement: – Very scary

– We have made our assessments of what is important, but it is clear that it is the product of much of what has happened at the Bærum ski club.

– And crazy joy

When you’ve watched your son’s development, there’s one thing in particular that impresses Braathen.

– Lucas is very good at implementing plans and often does much more than planned. He has great joy in training. This willingness and stamina to get the job done is what impresses me the most.

– How did you feel when you took the winner of the World Cup?

– It’s a crazy joy. One does not dare to believe that it is true, really. I’m not close to Lucas’s daily training anymore, but we talk a lot together. He says that on a day when he comes together technically and mentally, he has the skills to measure up. We have seen the outlines of this in recent years. He has developed the skills we thought necessary.

– There are many who put in a lot of work without necessarily being able to do it, because there is no guarantee. But it’s fun when you reach your goals and it’s fun when he succeeds.

– Maybe we should call the biggest critics of the 10,000 hour rule now, says Papa Braathen and laughs.

When Lucas was ten years old, he and his father made a ten-year plan to get to the top of the world.