BIOGRAPHY
Lake Tahoe's Julia Mancuso, the current Olympic giant slalom champion, is setting records and collecting medals at an impressive pace. The four-event athlete started World Cup racing and was a NorAm champion at 16, competed in the Olympics at 17, set a U.S. mark for Junior World Championships medals before she was out of her teens, and started her twenties by capturing two World Championships medals and establishing a record for most consecutive U.S. championships top-3s. And then she led the first run of the 2006 Olympic GS...and rolled to gold.
UPDATE
The 2009 winter proved to be a challenge for Mancuso, who missed the World Cup podium for the first time since 2006. A nagging back and continued adjustments to new equipment contributed to the struggle, but Mancuso is not one to make excuses. She's now more motivated than ever to put together a summer of intense training and preparation for the upcoming 2010 Olympics. After closing the season with her 10th U.S. championships (tying Bode Miller for the most of all-time) and third in GS, Mancuso jetted directly back to Europe to take second in the Verbier High Five event in Switzerland, then hung around for a few weeks to test skis and reported excellent success with the new boards. The rest of the off season was dedicated to religious conditioning and strength training in addition to living the Hawaii life on the water that Mancuso has come to love.
OLYMPIC SEASON
Now a three-time Olympian and the defending Olympic gold medalist in giant slalom, Mancuso is no longer a wide-eyed rookie. She is however, turning it on just in time for Vancouver with some of her best finishes of the season coming in January with top 10 results in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and Haus im Ennstal. She has been a regular top finisher in training runs and even popped a third in the opening half of super combined in St. Moritz, the last races prior to the Olympics. For Mancuso, these Olympics could be all about peaking a just the right time.
FIRST TRACKS
Mancuso was on skis at 2 at Squaw Valley but didn't race until she was 8, and then she started making up for lost time. She was named to the 2000 Development Team (with older sister April) and her World Cup debut came at 15 years, eight months, 11 days when she narrowly missed making the top-30 cut in a slalom at Copper Mountain. She would go on to pillage the next few Junior World Championships, capturing a U.S.-record eight medals (five golds, three bronze). When she won two medals at the 2005 World Championships in Italy, Italian media immediately adopted her as one of their own; she repeatedly explained - in Bormio in '05 and again at the '06 Olympics in Torino - her family is long gone from Italy, although there "may” be a distant relative or two in southern Italy.
FIRST WORLD CUP
Nov. 20, 1999 at Copper Mountain, CO (did not qualify for 2nd run in SL)
OLYMPICS/WORLDS
2009 Worlds – 18th in GS, DNF – 1 super combined, DNF – SG, DNF – DH. 2007 Worlds - Silver medal in super combined, 5th in GS, 6th in SG, 10th in DH. 2006 Olympics: GS champion, 7th in DH, 9th in combined, 11th in SG. 2005 Worlds - Bronze in super G, bronze in GS, 8th in SL, 9th in CO. 2003 Worlds - 7th in combined, 21st in SG. 2002 Olympics - 13th in combined.
CHALLENGES
2009 – Nagging back problems throughout the summer slowed her training and continued into the season. 2007 - Hip surgery in April 2006 to repair chronic problems. She missed most of the preseason training.
I AM
An auctioneer: She began selling racing bibs last season to help raise funds for her two pet projects: the World Wildlife Fund and Right to Play (see her Web site:
www.juliamancuso.com) for details...A full-time resident of Maui when not traveling and therefore a BIG fan of surfing and stand-up paddling…When she won two medals at the 2005 World Championships in Italy, Italian media immediately adopted her as one of their own; she repeatedly explained - in Bormio in ’05 and again at the ’06 Olympics in Torino - her family is long gone from Italy, although there “may” be a distant relative or two in southern Italy...Outstanding soccer player and varsity track athlete at North Tahoe HS; as a true Tahoe product, she’s added waterskiing to her outdoor fun - and, no surprise since she visits her dad on Maui every summer, Mancuso also enjoys surfing...She enjoys sketching and journalists have been known to “liberate” her drawings following press conferences...Mantra: “I do what I love and love what I do”...
01/31/2010
Vonn Locks Up Super G Title
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01/30/2010
Vonn 5th, Seven Americans Reach Points
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01/29/2010
Vonn Reaches Podium in Super Combined
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01/25/2010
World Cup Alpine Athletes to Aid Haiti
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01/23/2010
Vonn's Speed Streak Continues in Cortina
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01/22/2010
Vonn Wins Second Straight Super G
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01/17/2010
U.S. Shut Out of Maribor Slalom Final
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01/09/2010
Vonn Remains Perfect in Haus
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01/08/2010
Vonn Grabs Win in Austria
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12/20/2009
Vonn 3rd In Val d'Isere Super G
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11/28/2009
Mancuso Leads First GS Run in Aspen
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11/28/2009
Mancuso Leads U.S. in 13th
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11/26/2009
Starters Locked for Aspen
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11/12/2009
Athletes Set For Aspen Winternational
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10/15/2009
Chilean Andes to European Glaciers
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09/17/2009
Mancuso Strong at Portillo Speed Camp
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04/08/2009
Mancuso 2nd at Verbier
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02/28/2009
Vonn Clinches Downhill Title
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02/12/2009
Hoelzl Surprise GS Winner
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