Julia Mancuso has raced in a tiara. She's designed her own Super Jules underwear. Now she's even starting a Web site.

Oh yeah, she's also a pretty good skier. She won a gold medal in the giant slalom at the Olympics in Turin earlier this year and is the world's ninth-ranked female skier.

The 22-year-old American is entering her sixth World Cup season, and it could be her best one yet. Mancuso won't be able to wear the tiara thanks to a rule requiring helmets, but she'll still be sporting those Super Jules undies, brimming with the confidence that comes with Olympic gold.

asap got to chat with Super Jules leading into this year's World Cup season, which starts Nov. 24-26 in Aspen, Colo.

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asap: Are you excited for the World Cup season to start?

Mancuso: Yeah, I'm excited. I haven't trained too much, so I definitely could use some more training, but I'm excited that the season is here and I'm ready to get going.

asap: What has winning the gold medal meant to you?

Mancuso: Mostly it's excitement that I accomplished that goal and being able to go into future races knowing that anything is possible.

asap: Has it made your life any different?

Mancuso: Not too much. Definitely it was an experience I shared with a lot of people and it put smiles on a lot of people's faces. Just knowing that I had been dreaming about it since I was a little girl, it was really exciting to have that accomplishment under my belt. It's sort of, I don't know if it takes the pressure off, but it makes things more fun for me because I know I accomplished something that's a major goal.

asap: You spent quite a bit of time this summer in Maui. What did you do?

Mancuso: I have a trainer who has a gym there and I spent most of my days in the gym. After that, I'd go out surfing or biking. It was a lot of fun.

asap: What's it like kicking off the World Cup season in the United States?

Mancuso: It's pretty sweet. Any opportunity to have a race in the U.S. is an awesome opportunity. I would love to see more races happen, but we have such a classic tour in Europe that it becomes routine and becomes so familiar that it's mostly just missing friends and family.

asap: Can you explain the difference between the fan support here and in Europe, where ski racing is a much bigger deal?

Mancuso: I think it's awesome the love and appreciation that they have over there. It's such a classic sport for them. Everyone grew up knowing about ski racing and they have their ski racing heralds. It's cool to be a part of it and to see how classic the sport is and how much a part of their culture it is. Kind of like American football, they can really relate to it.

asap: We understand that you won't be able to wear the tiara this year.

Mancuso: Yes, we have new rules this year and they're going to make me wear a helmet. But it's OK. I like my safety, so I think it's a good transition for me.

asap: Where did the idea of racing with a tiara come from?

Mancuso: It was a gag gift from my coaches and I thought why not wear it? They thought it was pretty funny and it was sort of being able to ski with a part of them on the hill.

asap: Where did the idea for your Super Jules underwear come from?

Mancuso: Well, I had an awesome nationals -- I won three races -- and I had designed this underwear where it was Super Julia. I changed it to Super Jules, so it just kind of became a joke. From there, the joke turned into a good idea and now I'm working on my own underwear line.

asap: You're planning to market it?

Mancuso: It's definitely a plan for the future. We haven't gone into production yet, but we're working on it.

asap: So why underwear?

Mancuso: I've always been interested in clothing and fashion design stuff, so I figured I might as well narrow it down to one thing. To be able to make the underwear line would be awesome, especially with some kind of motivational quotes on them or something, maybe some special superpower underwear -- where these and you can go anywhere.

asap: You had the tiara and now the underwear. What's next?

Mancuso: Me and my friends are starting a healthy-living Web site. It's snowyliving.com. We want to provide services to people who basically want a healthy lifestyle, giving health tips, sort of my take on different workouts, just how to stay fit in winter. From there, hopefully we'll have more stuff that can help people.

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John Marshall is asap's sports writer, based in Denver.

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