Finally, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen also made a comeback on the alpine slopes. With an uplifting fourth place. He no longer drives for Norway. The search for the love he never felt he received from the Norwegian Ski Association has instead led him into the arms of the Austrian energy drink manufacturer Red Bull. In addition, perhaps the best alpine skier of all time, Marcel Hirscher, has returned to the competition jersey, now in Dutch colours. Soon the American icon Lindsey Vonn will also appear, now with new plastic knees. Or if it was titanium. The World Cup opening on the glacier in Austrian Sölden was also broadcast on TV in Norway, although it did not look like that for a long time. Time to wake up While the traditional broadcasters only argued with the rights holder EBU, VG and their partners finally found a solution. As you like to do. There were rumors of even more creative and simple platforms to distribute the weekend’s offer to the alpine nation in the north, but this did not happen this time. For Norwegian viewers interested in alpine skiing, it is good to see the world’s best skiers anyway. Especially when the three best of them are all Norwegian. It is also good for the sport as such and its sponsors to be shown. That is no longer a given. SHOWING GREAT FORM: 24-year-old Lucas Pinheiro Braathen moved up 15 places from the first to the second round in the giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. Photo: Alessandro Trovati / AP Sportingly, Brazil’s hopes started very poorly. But a terrific second round took Pinheiro Braathen all the way up to fourth place overall in his first competition in 19 months. It was much slower with the fallen giant Hirscher, who finished in 23rd place. But very few other than perhaps Norwegians and Italians really care about who actually won these giant slalom races at the end of October. Such a claim may sound disrespectful towards world-class athletes, but it is really not meant that way. This is mostly about other things, like it or not. Three in Norwegian uniforms were the first to finish this Sunday. But no one was in doubt as to who was the biggest star in the finish area after the opening race. It was the man in fourth place. The place no one normally cares about. Now it concerned everyone. Because this is primarily about profiles, not achievements. Because let’s look once more at how precisely the circus’s currently whitest horse himself said it at a very well-attended press conference in Sölden ahead of the comeback: “We are here because this is entertainment. I’m a showman. You’re naive if you think driving around a blue plastic gate down a mountain actually means anything. Wake up.” Lucas Pinheiro Braathen should never have been in Sölden. It is not an arena worthy of him. IN HIS ESS: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen at the press conference in Sölden ahead of the World Cup opening. Father Bjørn Braathen sits in the background. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB The real top sport And again – not because newly emancipated Brazilians should not have their place in the winter circus of sports. The thing is that the role he plays is actually much better adapted to a different type of suspense television than the slightly too early season opener VG+ has shown us this weekend. And Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is one of those who has really realized it. Top sport is reality TV. But perhaps even more important: Reality is the new top sport. Because when many people wonder why no one should broadcast the season opening of the world’s best alpinists, it is of course about price, but far from just that. Because sports have not been well enough prepared for the challenges they now face. Live sports have long been the most effective way to acquire viewers and customers. Now this tension is about to take a new form. Not that the reality genre is new by any means. But the dominance of this in the media landscape is at a level we have never seen before. It is the reality shows that define what are stars, not the other way around. Also in sports. The last part is of more recent date. The sports stars have long participated in various reality shows, whether it’s Shall we dance or 71 degrees north. Not to mention the purely sports-based Mesternes mester, which for many years has been Norway’s most popular entertainment programme. But we’ve probably only seen the start of the scale to come. That’s entertainment And we’re not talking about the fact that both alpine skiing and cross-country skiing are already appearing as a kind of live version of precisely the pensioner program Mesternes mester, when the start lists are now filled with participants with names such as Hirscher, Johaug, Vonn and Northug. STAR MEETING: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Austrian Marcel Hirscher in Sölden. Photo: AP Because where sport in general creates, with all due respect, rather generic stars, the reality shows manage to sharpen the characters in a completely different way. No boring matches. Always top teams. No injured stars or players who want to leave the club. Nervous duels. Continuous rivalry with a temper bordering on hatred, at least apparently. If any of the stars do not perform well enough in the competitions, you just change the rules a little and bring in a new one. Reality is on its way to becoming today’s most popular top sport. And when Lucas Pinheiro Braathen has now made a comeback, it is mostly as a showman, not as an alpine skier. New national team, new deals There his apparent and emotional farewell to the sport he once loved so much exactly one year ago – and the totally random counter-message in a Red Bull hangar a few months later, with a new nation, new sponsors and full commercial freedom in the back, appeared almost comically calculated to critical observers, the world obviously sees it in a completely different way. Lucas Braathen from Hokksund plays the role of Pinheiro from Brazil with great conviction. POPULAR: There is little doubt that Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is a popular man among young and old in the alpine circus. Photo: Cornelius Poppe / NTB His smiling entrance in front of a sensational 120 accredited press people at the aforementioned press conference was the best picture of this. Wearing a white jacket from his own collection at the French clothing sponsor for around NOK 30,000, he had full control over the script. And got all the response he and his experienced collaborators had wanted and planned. Even Trønder’s Rema had snuck in among the sponsors on the attractive back wall, after having entered into a collaboration based on what was termed a common value base, which is fascinating in itself. But this is not a value-philosophical debate we have time for right now. Alpine sport’s new first champion Instead, we were able to spend the weekend behind paywalls speculating on which reality show Lucas Pinheiro Braathen would be best suited to. Then most preferably peaked with former teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, as one of the loyal everyone long suspected of being the opposite. Or in a slightly milder form “The Game”, after the theatrical break with Ski-Norge. Pinheiro Braathen himself would probably be more credulous to think that as a Brazilian from Hokksund he would fit better in “Skal vi danse”, further confirmed through the samba-inspired celebration in the goal area in Sölden after the impressive second half in the comeback “71 degrees north” is anyway much too close to the North Pole for someone who likes to talk about “yoga bonito” rather than the Norwegian “work tasks”. But to insert a bit of news promo at the end, for those who might need a TV channel that deals with something other than alpine skiing, I think perhaps the upcoming series “Brekket” might be the most appropriate. Because unlike the participants there, who will compete to become the best robber, Lucas Braathen can smile all the way to the bank regardless of the result. Published 28.10.2024, at 10.16
ttn-69
The most important thing is not to win, but to entertain – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
