Lauren Macuga

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Lauren Macuga (born 4 July 2002) is an American World Cup alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team.

In 2019, she was just one of three women to join the U.S. national alpine ski team.[1] She is currently[when?] a student at Park City Winter Sports School and is coached by Jay Hey.[1] Macuga also competed in the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in alpine skiing and made her World Cup debut in December 2021.[2]

Early life[edit]

Born and raised in Park City, Utah,[2] Macuga began competing in ski racing at seven years old.

Career[edit]

In 2011, Macuga joined the Park City Ski and Snowboard's club team at the age of 8. In the same year, she was invited to participate in NASTAR nationals and championed her age group.[1] Macuga attends Park City Winter Sports School and participates in the Park City Ski & Snowboard Club.[2]

Macuga at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics

Macuga joined the Park City Ski & Snowboard FIS women's team for the first time in 2019, trained by Jay Hey.[1] Because she had no previous racing experience, Macuga had to work her way up from 990th place by participating and placing in various FIS events.[1] Macuga placed 3rd in the last race of the FIS season, giving her enough points to qualify to be a US Team nominee at 445th place.[1] Her place on the Team was confirmed a month later by U.S. Ski and Snowboard Alpine development director Chip Knight,[1] and she is one of two women from Utah on the team.[3]

On March 18, 2019, Macuga made her debut in the Nor-Am Cup in Downhill skiing at the Sugarloaf ski resort.[4]

She has been on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine D Team for 3 years after first joining the team in 2020.[2] Alongside Zoe Zimmerman, Macuga was one of the first two mentees of Alice Merryweather.[5]

World Cup results[edit]

Season standings[edit]

Season Age  Overall   Slalom  Giant
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
2023 20 122 49
2024 21 43 13 33

Top ten results[edit]

  • 0 podiums, 3 top tens (3 SG); 9 top twenties
Season Date Location Discipline Place
2024 14 Jan 2024 Austria Zauchensee, Austria Super-G 10th
2 Mar 2024 Norway Kvitfjell, Norway Super-G 7th
3 Mar 2024 Super-G 5th

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Ramsey, Ben. "Lauren Macuga, 16, makes US Alpine team". parkrecord.com. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  2. ^ a b c d "Lauren Macuga". U.S. Ski & Snowboard. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  3. ^ "Steven Nyman, Ted Ligety headline Utahns named to U.S. Alpine Ski Team for 2020-21". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  4. ^ "MACUGA Lauren - Athlete Information". fis-ski.com. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  5. ^ Schwartznau, Karina (2020-11-13). "Alice Merryweather embraces mentorship on U.S. Ski Team". Ski Racing Media. Retrieved 2022-02-18.

External links[edit]