BIOGRAPHY:
Julia Mancuso splits her time between Squaw Valley, Hawaii and hotel rooms across the globe. On the racecourse, she has captured more Olympic medals than any other American woman, with three. As a four-event athlete from the beginning, Mancuso 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.
In the 2011 season, Mancuso took her Olympic surge and kept right on rolling into with five World Cup podiums, including a downhill win at the season finale to bolt back into the overall standings top five. Always the champion, she donated half the prize money from her win to the earthquake relief effort in Japan. The success also landed her third in both the super G and downhill standings, with credit going to her incredible work ethic and a successful switch to Volkl skis prior to the season.
But what may have been her most impressive run of the year came at the opening race of the World Championships. While many athletes were intimidated by the difficult snow conditions, Mancuso looked at it as a challenge she could conquer, punishing the gnarly course for a silver medal in super G—just .05 from what would have been her first World Championship gold.
Following another season-closing U.S. Championships tear, Mancuso reset her own American record for victories (male or female) to 13 and then headed to Squaw Valley for the opening of her new gym, Performance JM.
JULIA SAYS:
"The World Championships hill was very difficult. It was a little bumpier and a little harder than what we're used to. It's not like every other World Cup and it shouldn't be. Big events should be harder. I just like to ski the hill and see what I have to conquer. I'll feel like I've nailed it, and then I'll get to the finish and see that I was third and fourth," Mancuso said after her win in Lenzerheide. "I really knew today was my last chance. It's what I've been waiting for all year, for things to come together. It was difficult, and I could take those chances because not everyone would be."
"My family has been a big part of the Squaw Valley community my whole life and I'm lucky to have grown up there. I spend six months out of the country traveling and skiing, and I get to see so many great ski resorts, but to me nothing has ever compared to what I have here at home."
FIRST TRACKS:
Mancuso was on skis at two at Squaw Valley but didn't race until she was eight, 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 later 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).
OFF THE SNOW:
Mancuso loves the ocean life in Maui, where she spends most of her time when not traveling around the world. A big fan of stand up paddling, surfing and yoga, you can follow all her adventures through your favorite social media outlets or clickity click juliamancuso.com. Philanthropy isn't as much of a hobby for Mancuso as it is a way of life. She's continually raising money for various charities including Right to Play and also landed a big chunk of money for the Haiti earthquake relief effort and again when another enormous earthquake struck Japan last winter.
