Industry News
Everyone knew at the start of the day today in St. Anton, Austria, that the second half of today’s Super-G would hold the exciting part. For one, the weather forecast said that the visibility would improve, and two, there was a series of promising skiers with higher bib numbers, first of all, Lindsey Vonn in bib 31, but also yesterday’s surprise second-placed skier Malorie Blanc from Switzerland in bib 33. But the surprise of the day came from a more middle-of-the-range bib number: Lauren Macuga in bib 17, who had been strong in training but had never been on the podium—a fact she changed today with a smashing time of 1:17.51 minutes, a solid 0.68 seconds ahead of local favorite Stephanie Venier, and almost a second ahead of yesterday’s winner Federica Brignone. Macuga became the first U.S. skier in history to win the Super-G on the Karl Schranz course in St. Anton.
“This is a dream. I have been dreaming about this forever.”
— Lauren Macuga
The race at St. Anton started with an impressive run by Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann, who set a smashing pace that saw her in the leader’s seat for the next six skiers. It was Italy’s Brignone who unseated the German by 0.35 seconds, and shortly after, Lara Gut-Behrami squeezed into second, 0.01 seconds ahead of Weidle-Winkelmann. The podium looked set there for several minutes with skier after skier unable to shake up the top three ranks. Speed-Queen Sofia Goggia came close to contesting her teammate but skidded out on the bottom section of the race course while she was 0.15 seconds ahead of Brignone, resulting in a DNF for the seasoned skier.
Then we reached the mid-field, and local favorite Stephanie Venier in bib 15 catapulted herself into the lead, 0.24 seconds ahead of Brignone. However, the Austrian ski racer’s time in the leader’s seat was relatively short, as Macuga in bib 17 smashed her time by an astounding 0.68 seconds. The American could not believe her eyes in the finish area, but the shock soon gave way to pure joy as reality sank in that she had just snatched the lead.
Skier after skier failed to unseat the American, and then it was time for Lindsey Vonn in bib 31, and tension started to build again. Could the legendary speed specialist ski onto the podium? Vonn looked fast, and at times, it was close, but the 40-year-old skier narrowly missed out on the podium, skiing into fourth place. The crowd and Vonn herself, however, did not seem disappointed. It was a spectacular performance by the comeback legend, and both Vonn and the spectators were celebrating a fantastic run in the finish area.
Malorie Blanc, who had competed in her first-ever Downhill yesterday and managed to ski into second place, skied into an impressive ninth place in her second-ever Super-G race. Her first race in St. Moritz had ended with a DNF, so a top-10 result for the 21-year-old rookie was a fantastic outcome.
But the day today belonged to Lauren Macuga, who won not only her first podium but a victory in St. Anton. The 22-year-old was still recovering from the shock when she was interviewed by the FIS commentator, “Oh my God, I can’t believe it! It’s so exciting,” the Park City local said. Macuga had shown strong training runs as well as a personal best fourth place in Beaver Creek. “I knew after the last few Super-G races that I had the potential to ski onto the podium. I made a mistake in Beaver Creek and I made a mistake in St. Moritz. And I did it today!”
Lauren Macuga comes from a family of successful winter sports athletes, with her younger sister Alli competing for Team USA in the Moguls World Cup and her older sister Sam on the U.S. Ski Jumping Team (and another brother hoping to make the national team).
This wraps up the speed events in St. Anton. The women’s FIS Alpine World Cup continues with a Slalom at Flachau, Austria, on Tuesday, January 14.
