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Lucas Braathen (20) is expected to have a great career after his first World Cup victory. But Henrik Kristoffersen believes that the first win is the easiest. Braathen’s response is that he wants to be bigger than his teammate.
– Yes! yelled Lucas Braathen and hit his chest as he drove into the lead from his sixth place in Sölden, five hundredths ahead of Marco Odermatt in the second half.
And the emotional outburst was just the beginning of the party.
Run after run, including greats like Alexis Pinturault and Henrik Kristoffersen, failed to catch up with 20-year-old Braathen, who ultimately won the opening of the World Cup in giant slalom.
– There are Viking genes mixed with sambar rhythms, which gives real dynamite, says his teammate Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen to VG about the teammate, who is half Brazilian, after the victory.
And it has also made a name for itself in the past:
He himself was proud to be the first Brazilian-born driver, having a Brazilian mother, to win a World Cup race.
– I’m very proud of that and it’s incredibly cool. I have to greet the family in Brazil again. It’s sickly fat. I hope it will shed light on skiing in Brazil and introduce you to the sport, says Braathen, who knows the family in Brazil sat all night and watched the race.
And they probably have more to look forward to. Last year, he described himself as “next” after impressing in the slalom race in Kitzbühel. And it is precisely the attitude towards the youngster that makes former world slalom champion Tom Stiansen think that Braathen will have an impressive career.
– Not many have won the World Cup race at age 20. He’s in a very famous company, says Stiansen and mentions several of the all-time mountaineers.
– Henrik is the best we’ve had in recent years. But Braathen said in an interview in Kitzbühel last year that “I’m next” and he meant what he said. I think he will probably have a career just as fantastic as Henrik’s, Stiansen tells VG.
HUGE JOY: Lucas Braathen after the victory at the opening of the World Cup in Sölden. Photo: JOE KLAMAR / AFP
Kristoffersen, who finished fifth in Sölden, notes that he himself has 21 wins and more than 60 podiums and mentions several others who are in the same league and that he is well ahead of Braathen. He thinks keeping track of the win is much more difficult.
– For me, the first victory is actually the easiest. Nobody expects anything. When the podium has been as much as Pinturault and Hirscher, there is an expectation to do so in every race. The transition to start winning many races is an entirely different matter. It was a completely different matter for me when I won my first race at Schladming in 2014. But only he can control it himself, Kristoffersen tells VG at the post-race press conference.
– It is the first victory and the first podium. It’s a long way to Hirscher and Pinturault and the 61 podiums where I am. Regardless, it starts early and develops early too, says Kristoffersen.
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But to this Braathen gives an answer to the charge:
– Goals don’t have as good a career as Henrik, but better, says Braathen when VG asks him.
– Do you think this is a statement that irritates Henrik?
– It is the truth that must be said. The goal is not to be second best. I am here to be the best.
Braathen, by the way, has previously been known for his new responses:
This is not nonsense to which Braathen is compared. Henrik Kristoffersen won World Cup gold in giant slalom, an Olympic medal in slalom as a teenager and dominated slalom alongside greats like Alberto Tomba and Ingemar Stenmark, back in the 2016 season. This led Stenmark to say that Kristoffersen was the greatest talent I had ever seen.
Stiansen believes that it is especially Braathen’s fearless attitude towards trails and competitors that makes him stand out. He is convinced that the victory is not a hoax on Braathen’s part.
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– There is something incredibly crude and rude about it. It’s just maintaining a lack of respect for the trails and the competitors. Not thinking too much is a great advantage in alpine skiing. I do not think it does. The fact that the breakthrough season continues with this says a lot about their future, says Stiansen, who notes that many achieve some of the best results, but then struggle to stay consistent at the top.
When asked about Braaten’s self-confidence, Kristoffersen responds:
– At least he is more confident in himself than after I won the first race, says Kristoffersen.
