Lauren Macuga made quite the impression at her first world championships.
Macuga tied for third in the super-G on Thursday at worlds in Saalbach, Austria. That makes her the first American since 1993 to win a medal in her first world championships, according to NBC.
‘Oh my gosh, so good,” Macuga said. “It won’t settle in for a while but I keep looking back up at that screen and I’m like, `Wow, my name is there.’ It’s crazy.”
The world championships bronze medal continues what’s been a breakout season for Macuga, 22. She won a pair of super-Gs at an event at Copper Mountain in December, then won her first World Cup title last month in the super-G at St. Anton, Austria.
Macuga also has three top-10 finishes in the downhill, including a fourth place at the famed Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Colo.
‘Coming into this year, I was just hoping to make the team,’ Macuga said. ‘Then after that (World Cup) win, I was like, `Wow, OK. I know I have it in me.’ Now I can just go do it again. … it’s just cool to see that I’m figuring out how to do it more and more.’
Her timing couldn’t be better. The Milan Cortina Olympics are exactly a year away, with the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 6, 2026.
Starting 14th, Macuga knew the time she needed to get on the podium. She was aggressive throughout the run, posting the fastest time on the opening section, and kept her composure on the jumps. She got a little bit off her line toward the bottom of the course but quickly recovered.
She finished tied with Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway. The two were 0.24 seconds behind Stephanie Venier of Austria, who won her first medal in super-G. Federica Brignone of Italy was third.
Lindsey Vonn, who came out of retirement after having a partial knee replacement last spring, did not finish the race, skiing out after hooking her arm around a gate.