Lauren’s dad Dan Macuga went to bed with his phone Saturday night, something he doesn’t usually do, and was woken up Sunday morning with news he’ll never forget.
“It rang at about five o’clock and it said ‘Lauren” and I was like, ‘Oh no, something must have gone wrong.’ I knew they were racing today, but she never calls. I answered the phone, and all I heard through a crackling voice was ‘I won.’ That was all she said, just those two words.”
When the call came in, Dan says his wife Amy was driving another daughter, Alli, to the Salt Lake airport for her next moguls competition.
“Amy actually found out, because the FIS [International Federation of Skiing] app alerted her on her phone, so she had heard it about the same time, but in a different way,” Macuga said.
Dan says Lauren told him she was surprised she had won the race.
“She [Lauren] actually said ‘I didn’t think I had that great of a run.’ And I was like, ‘well, apparently you did.’”
The day before at Saturday’s downhill race, Lauren had glued a large question mark on her helmet in the space where a head sponsor would normally go. Fortunately, her dad says she left it on for the winning race on Sunday.
“There were several major news publications that picked it up as well, and I’ve already gotten one inquiry from a company,” he said. “That’s one of the few places that the athletes can actually sponsor and find someone, and it supports their journey. And she has been looking for someone to get on there. And I said, ‘Well, you picked the right time to put it on your helmet.”
He says the outpouring of support from the community has been amazing.
“And we are passing that on to Lauren. And you know, they say it takes a village or a community, and we certainly are glad to be part of this community and have the support of everyone.”
Lauren is 22 and one of three Macuga sisters on the U.S. Ski Team. Her older sister Sam is a ski jumper and her younger sister Alli races moguls. Along with their youngest brother Daniel, an alpine racer, all of them participated in the Youth Sports Alliance Get Out and Play programs. All but Sam skied their way through the Park City Ski Team as well.
Lauren finished ninth in Saturday’s downhill behind Lindsey Vonn’s sixth place finish. Vonn finished in fourth in Sunday’s Super G.
The women compete in their next speed events in Cortina, Italy with a downhill on Saturday, Jan. 18 and a Super G on Sunday, Jan. 19.
