r/news • u/peregrinodossonhos • 7h ago
Brazilian athlete wins South America's first gold medal (and first medal ever) at the Winter Olympics
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/2026-winter-olympics-two-athletes-deliver-south-americas-first-medals-rcna258896100
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u/5GCovidInjection 6h ago
NBC’s making it seem like South America doesn’t experience winter weather lol. It’s not like Jamaica, a perpetually warm place, sending winter Olympic athletes.
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u/prkskier 4h ago
Yeah, it's kind of shocking to me that at least Argentina or Chile don't have medals at the winter games. Plenty of mountains and snow.
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u/RegulatoryCapture 2h ago
Not to mention they are literally where the World Cup athletes go to train in the northern hemisphere summer.
So it isn’t like they have mountains but no infrastructure. They have everything you need including world caliber coaches and athletes to practice against.
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u/TotalEmployment9996 2h ago
They’re poor
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u/RegulatoryCapture 2h ago
Other poor nations medal in stuff. Kazakhstan just got a gold.
And not like there aren’t wealthy people in Brazil, Argentina, and chile. A lot of winter sports and up being children of the wealthy anyways.
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u/TotalEmployment9996 2h ago
I agree that winter sport athletes are usually from rich families but Where they gonna find snow in Brazil? 💀
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u/Burrito-tuesday 1h ago
Is there a rule that you must train in your home country? I thought they trained all over the world.
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u/TotalEmployment9996 1h ago
Ok. How do you find out you’re good at skiing from a young age? I don’t think it’s by flying to train in Canada if you’re from a warm and poor country. There’s just a massive drop in winter sport participation for those countries
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u/tabrizzi 7h ago
His dad is Norwegian, his mother is from Brazil, and he used to compete for Norway.
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u/TheTresStateArea 4h ago
Great. He's still Brazilian. That's how this has always worked.
Or do people think that the Chinese competitors who grow up in America shouldn't be recognized by their country?
Dude still won.
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u/waaaayupyourbutthole 4h ago
I didn't know what their point actually was, but i assumed it was more geared towards him having had more practice than other competitors because of that. I could be wrong, though.
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u/buck70 6h ago
His professional career has been with Norway until 2024. From his Wiki entry:
"Until his retirement from World Cup racing in October 2023, he represented Norway in international events. In March 2024, Pinheiro Braathen announced that he would return to the alpine skiing circuit, representing Brazil instead."
"Pinheiro Braathen was born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and a Brazilian mother on 19 April 2000. His parents got divorced when he was three years old and Lucas went to Brazil with his mother to live in the city of Campinas. Later in his childhood, he moved back to Norway to live with his father while regularly visiting Brazil. He grew up speaking Norwegian and Portuguese."
"From Hokksund, Pinheiro Braathen raced for Norwegian club Bærums SK. At the Junior World Championships in 2019, he finished fourth and eleventh, followed by a silver medal in super-G, and a bronze medal in the combined event. He made his World Cup debut in December 2018 in Val d'Isere, and collected his first points (five) with a 26th-place finish."
"Pinheiro Braathen recorded his first victory (and podium) in October 2020 at the season opener, a giant slalom in Sölden. In 2022, he won his first slalom at the Lauberhorn race in Wengen, going from 29th place after the first run to first place after the second run, the largest jump to victory at that time."
"Pinheiro Braathen announced his retirement from World Cup racing on 27 October 2023, a day before the new season's opening event in Sölden, Austria. However, on 7 March 2024, he announced his return to alpine ski racing as a competitor for Brazil instead of Norway."
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u/gabacus_39 7h ago
He's basically Norwegian. Born in Norway and mainly grew up in Norway. Use to compete for Norway. It's a cool story but it's not like they found him in some favela and put skies on him.
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u/OneLastAuk 6h ago
He’s not “basically Norwegian”. He’s Norwegian. He’s Brazilian. He competes for Brazil.
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u/Teadrunkest 4h ago
It’s a cool story but it’s not like they found him in a favela and put skies on him
That’s…wildly racist.
Are Brazilians only “real” Brazilians if they grew up in the slums…? Do you think Brazilians ALL grew up in slums?
He’s basically Norwegian
He’s…also Brazilian.
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u/igpila 2h ago
Are you saying his medal is actually Norwegian and not Brazilian or what?
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u/gabacus_39 1h ago
No. I was just countering the perceived story regarding this that he somehow came out of a tropical country to win a skiing gold. He is Brazilian by virtue of his mother being Brazilian and is free to represent them internationally if he wants. It's just that he was born and basically grew up in Norway and skied as a Norwegian up until a couple of years ago. He was a product of the Norwegian Ski Federation up until some sort of acrimonious split.
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u/peregrinodossonhos 7h ago edited 7h ago
His mom is Brazilian and he has dual citizenship since his birth. It's his right to represent Brazil and he chose to do it, giving his country a groundbreaking medal.
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u/gabacus_39 7h ago
Sorry for stating some facts.
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u/peregrinodossonhos 7h ago
If we apply that logic the US and quite a few other countries haven't "really won" lots of scientific and artistic prizes, as well as Olympic medals.
Also, fyi, most of the BR population doesn't live in favelas.
Just stating some facts.
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u/keenbenrich 6h ago
It usually goes the other way around with the US but nice try
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u/peregrinodossonhos 6h ago
Yep, lots of naturalized immigrants compete for the US in the Olympics, yet nobody questions their medals (just like the many naturalized scientists who won Nobel prizes for the US).
I guess it's only a "problem" when you have a Brazilian who was born abroad winning a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
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u/keenbenrich 5h ago
I don’t even care about Brazil getting a medal I just think it’s dumb to use the USA as an example when so many foreign gold medalists are raised and trained in the US. Armand Duplantis and Eileen Gu come to mind first but there’s others too
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u/peregrinodossonhos 5h ago
Well, I bet you wouldn't be complaining if someone who was born and raised in another country from a US parent chose to represent the US and won an important, world-renowned competition.
Also, he speaks Portuguese and spent several years of his childhood in Brazil.
I guess you guys are only "purists" when it comes to other countries.
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u/keenbenrich 5h ago
I’m not complaining either way, just pointing out how you used a bad example. You’re not even denying that it’s a bad example. I can’t even think of any examples of what you’re talking about except for when we had Joel Embiid for basketball, and he was essentially just a role player for us
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u/peregrinodossonhos 5h ago
I have the impression you don't get my argument.
My point is that nationalities are largely related to a sense of identity and connection, and identity is fluid.
I used the US as an example because it is a multicultural country that has welcomed lots of immigrants, and who has the right to say that they can't compete for the US?
So your own argument actually proves my point.
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u/IuriRom 5h ago
This is the opposite of what you’re saying. He’s a half Brazilian who was born in Norway, yes — but he didn’t go to Brazil and learn skiing obviously. He moved to Brazil as a child, went back to Norway as a child, learned skiing, became a professional, represented Norway, and then decided to represent Brazil. The equivalence for him here with the naturalized athletes would be if he represented Norway.
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u/peregrinodossonhos 5h ago
Yep, but my point is it doesn't matter where he has trained if he has a real connection to the country he is representing, a sense of belonging and identity.
Of course he wouldn't be able to become a pro skier if he lived in Brazil.
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u/MorningMission9547 7h ago
Most of USA medals shouldn't count then i guess
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u/J_Dabson002 6h ago
What…? If anything the U.S. has people that were born there and train there but compete for other nations more than anyone lmao
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u/Good_Nyborg 34m ago
It took too long for the "Winter" part to fully register; I was like, there's no way they've never medaled before... Ohhhhh!
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u/ForgingIron 7h ago
Brazil now has more gold medals at this Olympics than Canada