Lucas Braathen unexpectedly announces his resignation

The day before he gave an interview with the Austrian slalom racer Manuel Feller about him as a type of skier in contrast to Manuel. You would never have thought that something was wrong, but in reality it has been bubbling under the surface for a long time. In a detailed statement, Lucas Braathen explained what prompted him to make this massive change in his life and give up his successful life as a ski racer from one day to the next. Behind this is an elementary dispute about the rights and freedom of athletes when working with the Norwegian Ski Association, which the Norwegian Ski Association allegedly takes away and restricts.

Year-long dispute with the Norwegian Ski Association
For three years, Lucas Braathen has been fighting with the association for his rights as an athlete, his trademark rights, his image rights and his freedom. The occasion was a recent video shoot for the fashion brand J. Lindberg, with which Braathen works. The Norwegian Ski Association intervened and threatened a fine because it is itself sponsored by the Helly Hansen brand. But the story goes back much further. The dispute over the issue of the rights and freedoms of athletes, who are being restricted by the association, began around three years ago. The association wants to dispose of it and does so by contract. According to Braathen, the association takes the position “We own all the rights, we own everything, and we use them however we want” – virtually without regard to losses. The athlete loses his freedom because the athlete cannot decide for himself how he wants to defend his rights, who he wants to work with, etc.

The Norwegian Ski Association's Legal Commission recognized Braathen's position, but the ski association ignored it
Lucas Braathen, with his father and his teammates at his side, sought out a lawyer to fight for his rights, he says in his detailed statement. The athletes and the ski association agreed to an investigation, but after 16 months the association had learned nothing and the contract became even stricter and more restrictive. They took the case to the Legal Commission of the Norwegian Ski Association. In November 2022 the report came back and the Law Commission confirmed Braathen's view and found him right. The Legal Commission recognized that it is the athletes who own the image rights and the license to distribute them. This must be taken into account in the next contract. But the association refused to recognize these rights and include them in the contract. After three years of this process, he told the media, he is exhausted and realizes that he represents an association that does not respect the rights of athletes.

You can't be happy without freedom
His goal was always to be as happy as possible. And that's how he feels about skiing. “I’ll do it as long as it makes me happy.” My freedom makes me happy. But this freedom was taken away from him by the Norwegian Ski Association, which patronized the athlete and restricted his decisions. He's had enough of that. The disrespect and ignorance of an obviously ruthless and domineering Norwegian Ski Association has robbed Braathen of the joy of skiing. With today's final stroke, he is suddenly free again.

Not the first case of a career end
Lucas Braathen is not the only case that shows how athletes and the rule of sports associations suffer. Another well-known case is the departure of the Swedish mountain bike racer Jenny Rissveds from mountain biking a few years ago. Jenny Rissveds found herself in a tight spot between the Swedish Cycling Association, which only tolerated certain sponsors that Rissveds was supposedly allowed to promote, and her former mountain bike racing team Scott Odlo, which in turn interfered with the promotion of their sponsors. Young people are targeted disproportionately and their personality and freedom are restricted in an incomprehensible manner. Jenny Rissveds became depressed and withdrew from sport. It took some time for her to recover and return to mountain biking with a new team of her own.

Ski Association culprit?
We have not spoken to the Norwegian Ski Association and do not know their point of view, only Braathen's statement. But Braathen's portrayal paints a very dark picture of a domineering association that acts without consideration for the needs and rights of athletes and restricts athletes' freedom without sufficient legitimacy. Associations that act in this way should be brought before the International Sports Court and sanctioned by the FIS. The era of athlete slavery and association dictatorship needs to be ended.

No other solution?
Lucas Braathen is still very young. He does not yet have the experience of an older person who is familiar with living and dealing with lengthy processes. Lucas Braathen could also have considered continuing the fight and involving the courts, which apparently hasn't happened yet. And he could also have considered changing the association instead of giving up the sport, although both options would of course have been associated with stress. His basic philosophy: “I do everything to be happy” is, moreover, a very young philosophy, a culture of the young generation, which is not necessarily suitable for older people who belong to a generation where it is all about doing one's duty meets with approval.

I hope for Lucas Braathen that he finds his way and maybe back into the ski circus with more humane conditions. Today, skiing has not only lost a great athlete, but also the acceptance of many fans. The scheming power games that you hear about and that are said to be going on in the background are too reminiscent of a culture of slavery and exploitation. Such images and stories are more damaging to skiing than some officials think.