Vonn and Mancuso: The best of rivals

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 | 3:00 PM ET

New York Times for CBC Sports

American skiers Lindsey Vonn, left, and Julia Mancuso, shown here last February, are friends and have been rivals since they were 12. (Luca Bruno/Associated Press)

Rivals since they were 12, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso have long been the yin and yang of American ski racing. They are Olympic teammates now for the third time, and little has changed since they were preteens.

Vonn is trying to win multiple gold medals to validate her last two years of international domination. Mancuso, a surprise gold medalist at the 2006 Turin Games, has been nearly an afterthought after two consecutive years of subpar results.

Vonn announced last week that she had a serious shin injury, sparking an international news media frenzy about her competitive readiness. Mancuso was hoping to use the pre-Olympic period to distribute free samples of her self-designed underwear line, called Kiss My Tiara.

Vonn did not attend the opening ceremony Friday, knowing that the hours of walking and standing with the United States team might aggravate her injured leg. Mancuso made it to the ceremony, though a bit late. She missed the first athletes’ bus because she was playing Dance Dance Revolution at the Olympic Village.

Vonn will most likely prepare for the women’s Alpine races, which begin with the downhill Wednesday, by watching a marathon session of "Law & Order" DVDs, a tribute to her favorite television show. Mancuso travels with a karaoke set and a Guitar Hero game.

"If I get people over, we’ll bust out the Metallica and get some headbanging action going," she said.

Friends but still very much rivals, Vonn and Mancuso, both 25, come to the Vancouver Games once more linked by what is different. Vonn needs and wants what Mancuso has, an Olympic medal.

Vonn has dedicated years to getting herself ready, following a calculated plan that included a daily summer regimen of six- to eight-hour workouts. Mancuso’s Olympic win four years ago was an unexpected shock and her first major international victory. She prepared the night before with a dinner of Pop-Tarts. She summers in Hawaii.

Mancuso still wonders if Vonn does not take it all too seriously.

"She treats skiing a little more like a job," Mancuso said in an interview late last year. "It doesn't always look like fun. I mean, it does when she wins, but when she's not winning, it doesn’t look so fun. I know Lindsey loves to ski, but it's regimented. She is following a plan, like something on a piece of paper.

"I feel like everything I do contributes to my ski racing. Whether it's surfing in Hawaii, exercising in a gym or letting my creative side out in some fun way, it's all part of it. We used to be good friends, but we don’t hang out as much. You know, she doesn't free ski, she doesn't like being out of gates. I love to free ski, I love being let loose."

When talking about Mancuso, Vonn tends to focus on their early days (Mancuso is seven months older), when they were among the top-ranked junior skiers in the world and slept over at each other’s houses and took vacations together. They were different then and learned from each other. Vonn, who grew up in Minnesota, was the Midwesterner guided by the orthodoxy of an Austrian-born coach, while Mancuso was from California and was imbued with the free-spirited Lake Tahoe skiing culture.

Vonn, too, laments that they now see each other infrequently.

"For a couple of years, she was traveling during the European races in her bus," Vonn said. “I was in hotels. We are still friends; she came to my wedding. We just went other ways. I'm married now. It's true that we are approaching things differently."

Their recent results are also much different. Mancuso was not on a World Cup podium last year for the first time since 2006, as a back injury hampered her. But she has not broken through this season either. Vonn, meanwhile, has 18 World Cup wins in the last two seasons and has become the most decorated American female racer in World Cup history. In the one downhill training run this week, however, they were as close as could be: Vonn first and Mancuso second.

The United States ski team coaches say they would not mind if Mancuso stole more from Vonn’s workout regimen.

"Julia can do anything and has the talent to do anything," Jim Tracy, the head women's coach, said. "After she won the Olympic medal, well, that was a top accomplishment, and when you do something like that you suddenly have 300 newfound friends. It's easy to get swayed away from what got you there. I think a little of that is what happened to Julia.

"Last year, as much as it kills you to see it happen, maybe it was good for her. I think she's back at it a little harder this year."

Tracy also said he would not mind if Mancuso did not spend her summers in Hawaii.

"Hawaii is a great place," he said. "I'm not sure if it's the best training ground for a ski racer."

Sarah Schleper, a four-time American Olympian, is five years older than Mancuso and Vonn, and she was often the third wheel in the relationship.

"They have always been like Iceman and Maverick from 'Top Gun,' " Schleper said. "Julia is natural and Lindsey is more textbook. But I think having each other has always been the key to each of their successes. They drove and pushed off each other every step of the way."

Mancuso said she was looking forward to the five races she would compete in during the next two weeks and was using a little history as motivation. She performed well during the World Cup races at Whistler two years ago.

"I was third in the downhill and second in the super-G portion of the super combined," Mancuso said. "So I have a lot of positive karma about the place."

One caveat: Vonn was second in that 2008 Whistler downhill. She finished sixth in the super combined. Mancuso, while finishing higher in the super-G portion of that event, ultimately ended up seventh.