American ski racer Lauren Macuga's Olympic dreams on hold after tearing ACL in right knee

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BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) — The plan was for American ski racer Lauren Macuga to be in Switzerland this week getting ready for some speed races.

Instead, she was hobbling around on crutches Thursday in the finish area at Beaver Creek as she awaits surgery to fix her torn right ACL.

The ever-positive Macuga found a bright side, though. She got to watch her younger brother, Daniel, test out the demanding downhill course before the World Cup racers took the stage.

“It was so fun to watch him,” Macuga, wearing her trademark bucket hat, said with a smile.

Macuga was being billed as one of the athletes to watch at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February. Her plans flipped in an instant. She was training in giant slalom at Copper Mountain, Colorado, last Friday when her ski, as she explained, "caught weird. It was just kind of unlucky how I fell, I guess.”

She felt pain in her knee but it only lasted a moment.

“I didn’t actually know where the ACL even was, so I thought I was OK,” said Macuga, who will have surgery next week.

She began walking, though, and the knee became unsteady.

“It was then I was like, ‘Oh, something’s wrong, but I don't know what,'" Macuga said. “I was able to ski down and so you hold on to hope. I got there and they’re like, ‘Yeah, it (ACL) is gone.' I was like, ‘Oh, awesome.’”

The 23-year-old Macuga was coming off a season in which she had four top-five World Cup finishes, including a super-G win last January in Austria. She also won a bonze medal in the super-G at the world championships.

She was so looking forward to Italy.

She may still go.

“It would be nice to go out there and support my team,” said Macuga, who will rehab after surgery in Park City, Utah. “Just be there for them.”

Macuga has been overwhelmed by the amount of support she's received since her injury. She just finished responding to all the well-wishers.

“It’s nice to know that people are excited for me to come back,” Macuga said. "I’m excited. I can’t wait."

Still, it's going to be difficult watching races this season.

“I was feeling very good coming into this, like the strongest I’ve ever been,” Macuga said. “Skiing great. So it's a bummer, but I mean in this sport it happens. It’s going to suck through the season watching everyone race and everything but what are you going to do?”

For starters, learn German.

That's her plan, anyway. She may even take a class. She's also going to watch her brother race. Cheer on her sisters, too — Alli, the moguls standout, and Sam, the ski jumper.

“Someone told me that statistically you’re more likely to win an Olympic medal after you (tear) your ACL,” Macuga said with a grin. “So I'm hanging on to that."

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics