ITAIPAVA, BRASIL - Outside of a few small flurries a year in the mountains in the deep south of Brasil near Argentina, it never snows here. Many times, as a North American, I have had Brazilians ask me what it’s like to see snow. For most Brazilians, seeing snow is a fantasy that they will never achieve.
On Saturday, Brazilians got to experience a fantasy many never imagined: watching a Brazilian win a gold medal for the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics, when Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the Giant Slalom in Italy.
“To everyone watching in Brszil, following me and cheering for me, I hope this can be a source of inspiration for the next generation of children,” said Braathen moments after winning. “Nothing is impossible. It doesn’t matter where you come from, your clothes or the color of your skin.”
As Braathen took to the podium in Italy, he began to dance samba with the green and yellow colors of Brasil around him. The rest of Brasil, already in the street for Carnaval, danced with him.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula, who financially backed the record 14 Brazilians who competed in the 2026 Winter Olympics, took to Instagram to celebrate the win.
“The unprecedented result shows that Brazilians (in) sports have no limit,” wrote Lula on Instagram.
After receiving the medal, Braathen could not hold back the tears when interviewed by Brazilians.
“I just hope that Brazilians look at this and truly understand that your difference is your superpower,” he said, still sobbing away. “It may show up in your skin or in the way you dress. But I hope this inspires every kid out there who feels a bit different to trust who you are.”
Braathen, who is half-Brazilian, half-Norwegian, grew up in Brasil till he was 9. Following his parents’ divorce, he moved to Norway to take advantage of the country’s school system. There, his father taught him how to ski.
In Norway, though, he said that he suffered racism as a Brazilian and often felt like an outsider.
"I didn’t feel at home anywhere,” said Braathen in a recent interview with the Folha de São Paul. "I adopted the local accent, imitated the behavior. I changed my personality, my accent, my interests, so frequently, only to lose them later. So I stopped and learned to be myself.”
From 2018 to 2023, Braathen competed internationally for the Norwegian national ski team. However, Braathen objected to the Norwegian team’s corporate culture and, in 2024, decided to start competing internationally on behalf of Brasil. He said, representing Brasil, he was able to approach the training and sport differently.
Reflecting on the awkwardness he felt as a kid, Braathen said that, in retrospect, he realized that exposure to many different cultures helped him think about things in different ways.
“Nowadays, I realize that my difference is a superpower,” said Braathen.
A few days before winning, Braathen posted a photo on Instagram of himself with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
In 2016, Kaepernick, who was the starting quarterback of the 49ers, began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. After the season, Donald Trump put pressure on NFL teams not to sign him, and he was unable to play in the NFL again. Eventually, Kaepernick reached a financial settlement after being blacklisted by the League.
For Braathen, who had broken with the Norwegian ski team to join the Brazilian Olympic team, Kaepernick was one of his heroes.
“What an honor to share one of the biggest days of my life with these inspiring role models of mine,” wrote Braathen. “Moments like these are a result of countless hours of studying transcending individuals like these—inspiring me to dare pursue my own dreams.”
Braathen’s gesture of solidarity to the American left was one of many recent gestures by Brazilians, who are achieving international success.
In January, when the left-wing Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for the Brazilian anti-fascist thriller The Secret Agent, the awards producer tried to play music to shoo him off the stage. Still, he kept talking to send a message of international solidarity between America’s two largest democracies.
“I dedicated this film to young filmmakers. This is a very important moment. This is a very important time in the history of making films. Here in the US and in Brasil, young American filmmakers make films,” shouted Kleber over the music.
For Brazilians, Braathen’s win on Saturday was yet another example of the growing global influence of the country of 215 million, which countries in the Global North have too often ignored.
On Saturday, as Brazilians danced in 95-degree heat during Carnaval, they celebrated that their voices were once again being heard on the international stage.
“I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve read through from the day I started representing Brasil until becoming an Olympic champion today that has been along the lines of, ‘I have no idea of what’s going on, but let’s go Brasil. Let’s go Lucas,’” Pinheiro Braathen recounted. “I think it’s that unconditional love and support from the Brazilians, even though we’re still in this journey of introducing ski racing to Brasil, that I really brought with me today and allowed me to ski as fast as I did.”
Donate to Help Us Cover Brazilian-American Solidarity
From Payday Report via This RSS Feed.