ST. ANTON, Austria — Lauren Macuga’s first World Cup race win Sunday — in a super-G where again in fourth — was no surprise to ski watchers who saw the 22-year-old American’s fast-improving results.
Maybe now sponsors will catch up with a racer from what shapes to soon be the first family of the extended United States ski team.
Macuga skied with speed and style Sunday wearing a helmet that has a question mark on the front where a sponsor’s brand could be.
The American was almost flawless on a course that caught out veterans like Federica Brignone and Lara Gut-Behrami, who made errors and knew crossing the finish line their times would not hold up.
Macuga won by 0.68 seconds — a huge winning margin in super-G — ahead of Stephanie Venier of Austria, with Brignone 0.92 back in third. Olympic champion Gut-Behrami was 1.26 back in fifth. The result was unofficial with low-ranked skiers yet to start.
Vonn, in the third race of her comeback at age 40, trailed Macuga by 1.24 yet no one was faster down the steep middle section of the course.
Macuga stood course-side punching the air to salute her storied teammate’s run. Vonn smiled broadly and held her arms out wide as the racecourse commentator praised her “unbelievable” run.
A half-hour earlier, Macuga had crossed the line and seeing her race-leading time put her right hand to her open mouth, waved both arms in the air and shrieked “Oh my God!”
Macuga was installed in the leader’s box, wearing a bucket hat with stars and stripes, to watch Vonn start wearing the No. 31 bib, one day after her impressive sixth-place finish in downhill. Macuga had been ninth Saturday.
Vonn had skied at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics in Macuga’s home state Utah five months before the U.S. team’s new star was even born — on the fourth of July.
Macuga is in her third full season on the World Cup tour and had six top-10 finishes before Sunday, including fourth in a downhill last month at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Her sisters also are on U.S. teams: Sam Macuga is a ski jumper and Alli Macuga skis moguls on the freestyle team.
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