She may be most decorated Olympic female American alpine skier of all time, but Julia Mancuso has never been a typical professional winter athlete. Famously defying her doubters by wearing a tiara on the podium at the 2006 Olympics, the Olympic gold medallist is just as at home paddling in Hawaii or surfing off-season as she is on the slopes, and she is now a brand ambassador, underwear model, fitness guru and philanthropist. As well as winning giant slalom gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics, she won silver in both the combined and downhill in the 2010 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal in 2014. The legendary skier also enjoyed great success at World Championships winning five medals (two silver and three bronze).
The Squaw Valley girl was raised in a family with an active lifestyle at the forefront of everything they did, and she broke in the World Cup when she was just 15 years old. Although she dominated the Junior World Championships whilst still in her teens, she struggled to reach the World Cup podium until she realised success wasn’t about beating the more experienced competitors, she just needed to be the best she could be.
Her new mind-set worked and “Super-Jules” went on to notch up seven World Cup wins as well as her incredible tally of Olympic and World Championship medals. Throughout her career Mancuso found joy in her sport, announcing her retirement from competition dressed in a Wonder Woman outfit and cape at Cortina d’Ampezzo, where she had won her first World Cup podium.
Since retiring her life pursuits have taken her in many different directions, opening a fitness center, launching her own line of women’s underwear and supporting several charities.