Utah’s Macuga sisters taking different routes to Olympics

DREAMING OF ITALY IN 2026

Sisters, from left, Sam, Lauren and Alli Macuga pose in Park City, Utah, on July 4. Lauren won her first women’s World Cup race last week in Austria. Sam competes in ski jumping and Alli in moguls. COURTESY OF MACUGA FAMILY VIA AP

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By Pat Graham

The Associated Press

The conversations around the dinner table can sometimes turn spicy between the Macuga sisters when one particular topic gets brought up: Whose winter event is more demanding.

The trio each make compelling cases. Alli, the moguls standout, touts the knee-jarring bumps and jumps; Lauren, the downhill ski racer, cites speeds in excess of 70 mph along an icy course; and Sam, the ski jumper, offers up soaring through the air after launching off a fear-inspiring jump.

Mom and dad just soak it all in. “We get a kick out of listening to them argue over whose sport is harder or more entertaining,” said their father, Dan, whose son, Daniel, also is an up-and-coming ski racer. “The banter between them is just fantastic.”

One thing the tight-knit sisters can agree on: Just how special it would be should all three make the U.S. team for the Milan-Cortina Olympics next winter.

Now that would be quite a family reunion. It’s a real possibility, too. Alli, 21, had two World Cup podium finishes last season, while Sam, who turns 24 next month, is among the top American ski jumpers. Then there’s Lauren, the 22-year-old who’s coming off her first career World Cup win last weekend in Austria in the super-G.

“We just watch all of them in awe,” their father said.

Each sibling was born in a different state — Sam in California, Lauren in Michigan, Alli in Washington and Daniel in Texas. Living in Dallas, an opportunity came around for the family to settle down in Park City, Utah.

Amy and Dan jumped at the chance. Recreational skiers, they got their young kids involved through the Youth Sports Alliance, a program set up after the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics to encourage children to try different winter sports.

Sam eventually gravitated toward ski jumping, where the elite jumpers sit on a bar about as high as a 40-story building until they glide down the runway and see how far they can fly.

“I remember Sam just said, ‘Mom, dad, I’m going to do this,’” recalled Lauren, who’s competing in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, this weekend at the venue for the upcoming Olympics. “I think they just thought she was skiing over jumps. And then it turns out she was jumping these HUGE jumps.”

For Lauren, it was the thrill of speed that led her to ski racing (once she conquered the fear). This offered an early hint of her potential: She won a junior national event with a borrowed race suit and on a pair of skis where the bottom looked as if she’d just rolled across a gravel parking lot.

In the case of Alli, she tried out a little bit of everything — aerials, slopestyle, halfpipe, big mountain — before being drawn into the world of moguls by the combination of bumps and flips.

A side benefit to competing in different disciplines? No sibling rivalries.

“It’s so nice to have my ‘thing’ and be able to tune in and cheer for my other siblings as they do theirs,” Sam said. “Comparing experiences and stories is so cool.”

Lauren had plenty to smile about Sunday in St. Anton, when she captured her first World Cup win. Her childhood idol, Lindsey Vonn, even gave her a celebratory hug (Vonn took fourth).

One of the best parts for Lauren was the call home to share the news of her victory. It was still early back in Utah and her father was sleeping. “He was like, ‘What’s wrong? Are you OK?’” Lauren said with a laugh. “I was like, “Dad, I won!’”