Four-time Olympian Julia Mancuso announced her retirement from Alpine skiing just weeks before the 2018 Winter Olympics, but that didn't keep her away from Pyeongchang.
Mancuso had a long career where she saw success at the highest level of the sport. She started skiing when she was only 2, but her professional career really started to take off when she landed on the World Cup scene at age 15.
She retired as the most decorated Alpine skier the sport has seen with seven World Cup wins, five World Championship podium finishes and four Olympic medals, including a gold in the giant slalom at the 2006 Torino Games.
While the decision to retire wasn't easy after competing in the sport for so many years, Mancuso called it quite "simple" because injuries were holding her back.
"It was really tough for me, but it was also simple because I had such a hard time recovering from my hip surgery," Mancuso told Omnisport in an exclusive interview. "It was really sort of like a Hail Mary trying to get my hip better, and I kept thinking it would improve and that I would wake up one morning and it would be possible to compete with the best in the world.
"The closer the Olympics got, the more I realized it wasn't going to happen. It was difficult but just knowing that I gave my all was really fulfilling and the best way I could end it considering the circumstances."
What many don't know is Mancuso was born with hip dysplasia, a misalignment of hip bones that causes the joint to deteriorate faster than normal. Mancuso didn't know she had the condition until she was about 18 and the pain in her hip persisted, but she pushed through and "dealt with not feeling 100 percent." After she won gold in Torino, she underwent surgery but was never able to get back to where she was before.
"The surgery made the injury a little bit more prominent," Mancuso said. "I think because of the dysplasia it was hard for my labrum to heal and to get better. So after that surgery, 10 years later I had to get another one. And after that surgery, I had a lot of cartilage damage. It just didn't really heal properly."
It was bittersweet as Mancuso, 33, didn't get the opportunity to compete in Pyeongchang, but she was there as a spectator and had the opportunity to work with NBC. After she returned to the United States, she opened up about attending the Olympics for the first time since her retirement, and she evaluated some of the performances from Pyeongchang, including medal runs from Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin.
Omnisport: Looking back at your career now, what were some of the highs and lows you experienced as an Alpine skier?
Julia Mancuso: I always loved competing in the Olympics. It was just really special every four years and what's special about the Olympics is you're on the world stage. You really have that one shot to go for it and really anything's possible. You have that one moment where it's like one race to show that you're the best ski racer.
Some of the tougher times were the injuries. Ski racing is a really tough sport, and I feel like I had quite a few minor injuries that just kept me from competing at my best. Looking back, the hardest thing to manage was you know questioning if you made the right decision on certain things. Mostly I just never wanted to miss out on the races, and some of my injuries weren't bad enough like from a really huge crash that kept me off the hill. It was just some chronic injuries that maybe I should have taken some time off of skiing to deal with. Instead, I just kept competing and didn't have the results I wanted.
O: What does retiring as the most decorated skier and knowing you left such a legacy on the sport mean to you?
Mancuso: It was just nice to know I did the best I could during my career and gave it my all, and it was nice to be a part of such an incredibly talented group of other skiers. I think we as athletes always want more. So for sure there's moments where I wish I could've done better, but knowing that I was able to and given the opportunity to have that was also nice, and I'll be forever grateful for that opportunity.
O: How difficult was it to manage your hip injury while still competing all of those years?
Mancuso: I was always told that it was going to be a really difficult injury to come back from. But I was forever the optimist and hoping that it would heal and everything would be great and I would be competing in the Olympics this year. So it's really just been a roller-coaster ride of doing the best I can and just trying to figure it out and figure out a way around having my hips feeling that way. It was definitely a battle because we always keep training journals and looking back I couldn't do as many runs as I wanted to. I really had to monitor it from a young age competitively.
O: What was your experience like going to the Olympics in a new role knowing you couldn't compete?
Mancuso: Well, I had a really great time working with NBC. It was fun and we got to do a lot of really cool things. For me, the easiest thing walking away from the experience and not being able to compete was knowing I stopped because of an injury and looking on the bright side because it's easy to let injuries get you down. I look back, and I really was happy that I was able to move forward and appreciate the Olympics.
It was my first year not competing from my last four Olympics, so there's a bit of nostalgia and it really made me appreciate those great moments I did get to experience. I also just really feel appreciative of all the athletes and I love watching everyone give out their best effort. I love the stories of the underdog and surprises. I think I really can relate to that because it's so special to stand on top of the Olympic podium when no one else is expecting it.
O: What are some of your takeaways on how the women performed in Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics?
Mancuso: On the women's side, we had some personal bests for some of the athletes, but we also had some injuries. I think that between Mikaela (Shiffrin) and Lindsey (Vonn), they really put their best effort forward. For sure I think everyone expected more medals out of them, but I think also everyone forgets that the Olympics are a totally different ballgame. It's really hard to go in as a favorite and win as a favorite because there's just so much more pressure. You just have this feeling instead of anything's possible and I can do this to getting the feeling that this is your race to lose. I think that Mikaela suffered from that a little bit, but being able to walk away with a giant slalom gold and a combined silver is really exceptional.
O: Some of the events Mikaela Shiffrin competed in were postponed due to bad weather conditions and she was forced to do the giant slalom and slalom back-to-back. Do you think that affected her chances of getting on the podium in the slalom since she finished fourth?
Mancuso: Normally in our World Cup season we always compete back-to-back, so it's not that hard for the athletes. It just depends on how prepared you are. I think for Mikaela it was a struggle because she wants the extra training runs. That's what she's always known for. She is the athlete that is taking more runs than anyone so I believe it threw her off her game a little bit.
O: Lindsey Vonn won bronze in the downhill and was sixth in the super-G after a costly mistake. What did you think of how she performed in Pyeongchang?
Mancuso: For Lindsey to walk away with a bronze medal was really cool because I think she just had so much pressure. She missed the last Olympics, and she put so much pressure on herself and she didn't want to mess up, especially after she messed up in the super-G. For sure I think she lost the race by being hesitant, but always when you walk away with a medal it's a sense of accomplishment. You know the best feeling is to get gold, but if you can't get gold, getting a medal is a great feeling as well.
O: Lindsey has faced a long list of injuries and it was questioned whether she would be able to compete in Pyeongchang. Can you relate to what she has gone through and what she has overcome?
Mancuso: It's pretty remarkable that she bounces back from all her injuries like she does because with my injuries its been really, really difficult. For me, fighting back — that's all you can do. It's what keeps you going, so for sure there's a lot of respect for that. I really think it was great how much support she had around it. A lot of people look at her as being a really hyped athlete and not being able to perform as a failure, but the success that she has had on the World Cup really deserved all the media attention and all of the hype about her skiing because she really is the greatest female skier ever and really close to the greatest skier of all time. So all of the attention around it was very well deserved and the fact that she couldn't get that gold medal just makes her human. I mean it's really difficult to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
O: Pyeongchang was likely Lindsey's last Olympics. How do you think the sport will look without her in it ?
Mancuso: We will definitely miss her in the sport because she's such a solid champion, but as with every sport as one retires more will come up in her place. At this point, I think Mikaela has a really good chance, if she stays healthy, to take over the same records that Lindsey is already taking on. The future is bright for all the kids because we're starting to see the new generation who grew up on the carving skis and grew up on completely different equipment than me and Lindsey grew up on getting to the World Cup scene. So I think we're starting to see a major progression.
O: What did you think about Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic who made history winning gold in both Alpine skiing and snowboarding and how unusual is that?
Mancuso: I think my favorite story from the Olympics is about Ester because it's something that I hold close to my heart. I've always been an athlete that loves to be in a bunch of sports, and I felt like my coaches sort of reined me in and tried to keep me focused on just racing. For sure nobody was expecting it in the super-G. It was a huge surprise for everyone in the ski world. I mean she had been skiing well in the beginning of the year. She had really great moments on the World Cup, but nothing really came out of it. I would say skiing wasn't a surprise because the skiing has always been there, but the fact that she came with this great time in the super-G was what shocked the world because it was so unlikely.
And the fact that she still does snowboarding racing is also really cool because watching her get that medal in the super-G and then move on and train for the parallel giant slalom for snowboarding and getting a gold there — it's really remarkable. It's just really cool to see an athlete stick to what they want to do and believe in and love both sports. She really was sticking to her truth and wanting to be the person she wanted to be, not what everyone else says you should be and I love that.
