Julia Mancuso savors her silvers, decides to pass up Friday’s Olympic slalom race

Julia Mancuso savors silvers, to sit out slalom

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Content with her two silver medals, Julia Mancuso has decided not to enter Friday’s Olympic slalom.

“They asked if I wanted to race and it’s my decision,” Mancuso told The Associated Press on Tuesday of her discussions with the U.S. Ski Team coaching staff. “It’s just a lot of work to race another Olympic event, and as good as my slalom is, I honestly don’t feel like it’s good enough for a medal.”

Mancuso opened the Vancouver Games by finishing second to teammate Lindsey Vonn in the downhill, then finished behind gold medalist Maria Riesch in the super-combined.

Mancuso still has one race remaining, Wednesday’s giant slalom, which she enters as defending champion.

Slalom is Mancuso’s worst event, but she was ninth-fastest in the slalom leg of the super-combined.

“I want to keep that good feeling from the combined slalom,” she said after a giant slalom training session.

Based on this season’s results, Vonn and Sarah Schleper both have guaranteed starting spots for the slalom. U.S. women’s head coach Jim Tracy said Megan McJames of Park City, Utah, would also “probably” get a start, leaving Hailey Duke of Boise, Idaho, and Kaylin Richardson of Edina, Minnesota, as possibilities for the fourth start.

“I’m not going to make the final entries until Thursday,” Tracy said.

Having entered these games with low expectations after a two-year dry spell, Mancuso is already looking forward to celebrating her medals when she gets home to Squaw Valley, Calif.

“We’re having a big party on Sunday at home,” she said. “My friends have a band and they’re going to play, and we’re just going to have a lot of fun.”