It’s not simply soccer anymore. Brazil is discovering World Cup success in snowboarding now, too.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen turned the primary Brazilian skier to complete on a World Cup podium when he positioned second in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Sunday.
Pinheiro Braathen celebrated the achievement in really Brazilian — and Pinheiro — fashion: with a samba dance on the podium, the Brazilian flag wrapped round his waist and cowboy boots on his toes.
“What a second to interrupt out a dance in entrance of all these wonderful followers right here right this moment. I got here onto the circuit to make a distinction. I got here right here to be myself and hopefully be an inspiration to the outcasts on the market, to the folks that really feel a bit completely different, to comply with their very own path,” Pinheiro Braathen stated.
“It’s such a privilege to have the ability to be the primary one to convey the Brazilian flag — one thing that I’m so happy with — as much as a winter sport World Cup podium,” he added.
Pinheiro Braathen’s mom is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He had raced for Norway till abruptly retiring a bit greater than a yr in the past after getting right into a dispute with the Norwegian ski federation following modeling work for a rival model of the federation’s clothes provider.
In March, Pinheiro Braathen announced his comeback for Brazil, a federation that had not been represented on Alpine snowboarding’s World Cup circuit since 2016.
Brazil has by no means received a medal on the Winter Olympics however now Pinheiro Braathen will doubtless be a contender at subsequent season’s Milan-Cortina Video games. So may Nicole Silveira, who completed third in a World Cup skeleton race in Pyeongchang, South Korea, final month for Brazil’s first podium lead to a winter sport.
The one man who competed in Alpine snowboarding for Brazil on the 2022 Beijing Olympics was Michel Macedo, who didn’t end his second slalom run.
Pinheiro Braathen’s end result received little protection in Brazil on Sunday, which was additionally the day when the ultimate spherical of the nation’s soccer league was being performed. However snowboarding is hardly adopted in Brazil, the place there may be not a lot in the way in which of Alpine resorts. Argentina and Chile are higher often called snowboarding locations in South America.
Pinheiro Braathen received 5 World Cup races when he represented Norway: three slaloms and two big slaloms. He additionally received the 2022-23 season-long slalom title —- however he missed that season’s world championships because of an appendectomy.
One among snowboarding’s most vibrant personalities, identified for portray his fingernails and a style for vogue, Pinheiro Braathen typically cites Ronaldinho and Dennis Rodman as his idols. He famous what number of challenges he’s needed to overcome within the sport.
“It’s standing up towards all of the stress and all of the potential judgement that follows when going your personal path,” he stated, noting that snowboarding is “a fairly masculine” sport.
“Being somebody (who) likes to decorate a bit in a different way and do me, I simply take pleasure in that and I hope that the historical past that I’m capable of write right this moment can symbolize the impact of following your personal path and the potential that lies in simply being who you might be so as to be pleased,” Pinheiro Braathen added.
Having put down the quickest second run after inserting fourth within the opening leg, Pinheiro Braathen completed a slim 0.12 seconds behind Swiss first-time winner Thomas Tumler to enhance upon two fourth-place finishes earlier this season. He celebrated with snowboarding’s model of a mic drop, letting each of his skis fall to the snow as he confronted a crowd that included a fan membership sporting the yellow jerseys of Brazil’s nationwide soccer crew.
Up subsequent, Pinheiro Braathen will purpose for Brazil’s first victory on snow in big slalom and slalom races in Val d’Isere, France, subsequent weekend — the place his mother, Alessandra, who’s from Sao Paulo, is predicted to be available to cheer him on.
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AP Sports activities Author Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed.
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AP snowboarding: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
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