It takes a lot to bother Julia Mancuso.
The pain in her right hip flared up again but the Olympic gold medalist, who finished seventh in the first World Cup giant slalom of the season on Saturday, just shrugged it off.
She slept on a concrete floor at the airport in Hawaii a couple of days before the event and arrived at the competition venue late, but it wasn't a big deal.
PHOTO: EPA
"None of that affected me, really. I just don't have enough runs under my belt," said Mancuso, who had surgery on her right hip in July to repair a torn labrum -- the fibrous cartilage that runs around the bony rim of the hip socket.
"It's my first race of the season. I haven't had many runs and today, second run, the course was a bit rutted so that was a bit difficult for me," she said.
Mancuso's relaxed demeanor has helped her deal with the problems that she seemingly always encounters on the World Cup circuit.
Last year she spent weeks racing in substitute boots because she forgot her custom-fit pair at the December races at Lake Louise, Canada. Boots are among the most important piece of equipment for racers.
"She was amazingly cool," teammate Resi Stiegler said. "I'd freak out if it were me."
This season, after the opening races in Austria were canceled due to a lack of snow, Mancuso opted to skip the slalom race in Finland in favor of training in Colorado.
She then took a five-day break in Hawaii, where she lives in the offseason.
But her idyllic holiday ended on a a frightening note when her flight to Denver for the Aspen races was turned back after the plane began "kind of tilting."
Mancuso was happy to spend "an extra day in paradise" until she ended up sleeping on the concrete floor at the Oahu airport and arrived in Aspen on Thursday, a day behind schedule.
"It wasn't comfortable and I only had a day here before race day," Mancuso said. "But hey, what can you do? That's life."
She also applies the same calm attitude to her hip problems, which have been going on for more than two years.
Although US women's coach Patrick Riml expects great things from Mancuso, 22, this season, the Lake Tahoe native feels this could be a transitional year for her.
"I just want to get through the season healthy. I'm looking for the win but I'm definitely not 100 percent in my hip," she said. "I went to a doctor before I came and told him I was in a bit of pain. He said it's basically a year before it's recovered so I have a little ways to go. You can't rush things."
Mancuso also is dealing with the headache of organizing a converted bus with a driver to travel the World Cup circuit.
Last season, emulating US skier Bode Miller, Mancuso began living in an RV during the competition season.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was