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.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS