Sensational woman snatches home victory from Austrian

A sensation occurred in the Super-G at the World Cup in St. Anton am Arlberg on Sunday. The American Lauren Macuga took advantage of the improving conditions and catapulted herself to her first World Cup victory - much to the chagrin of an Austrian.

12 January 2025

From: never

“It’s a bit frustrating,” explained Federica Brignone in an interview with ORF"But that's skiing." Shortly before, the Italian had been pushed out of the top position by the Austrian Stephanie Venier, and the ÖSV skier also benefited from the steadily improving conditions during her appearance in her Tyrolean homeland. In the end, however, Venier was not granted victory - Lauren Macuga, a sensational woman from the USA, crashed the Austrian party shortly afterwards.

On Sunday, skiing once again showed its unpredictable side. After about 14 racers, the skies over St. Anton cleared up and briefly made conditions much more favorable on the Karl Schranz piste. But you have to make the most of them to get a top placing. Macuga did it best of all and conjured up the best time in three out of four sections. This meant that the 22-year-old from Michigan not only landed on the World Cup podium for the first time in her young career, but also secured her first victory with a big lead over Venier (+0,68 seconds) and Brignone (+0,92).

Macuga pushes himself to victory – Vonn delighted

Soft snow off the ideal line caused the athletes to have a lot of problems several times, and when they deviated they lost a lot of speed. A combination of attack and flexibility was therefore necessary – and Macuga managed this impressively. “At the start I knew that I had to push,” she said in an interview with the ORF a look at her performance. "I thought to myself: 'If I want to do it, I have to do it now.' It was set up for me."

Lauren Macuga has achieved her first World Cup victory. © APA / EXPA/JOHANN GRODER

While the youngster had to realise his luck in the finish area, Lindsey Vonn followed suit for the US girls. Despite poor visibility again, the 40-year-old veteran was on a par with the top runners in the third race since her comeback. She was even the fastest in the third section, and in the end the 2010 Olympic champion impressed with a strong fourth place (+1,24).

Goggia is eliminated

Sofia Goggia, meanwhile, was running with a knife between her teeth. After setting an interim best time, the Bergamaskin was eliminated shortly before the finish. Elena Curtoni (13th/+1,85) and Laura Pirovano (15th/+1,91) finished in the top 15. Nicol Delago came off the ideal line after the third interim time and missed a gate, while her sister Nadia struggled with herself and finished further back (34th/+3,80).

The women's race continues on Tuesday evening in Flachau. The slalom is scheduled to start at 17.45:20.45 p.m., with the winners being decided at XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.