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Mancuso leaves behind a legacy of skiing her best in the biggest races.  Getty Images

Super Jules is officially turning in her cape. Julia Mancuso, the most decorated Olympic female skier in U.S. history, retired on Friday after one last push out of the start gate in a World Cup downhill in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, ending her bid for a record fifth Olympics.

The difficult decision came after Mancuso, 33, struggled to return to form since a right hip surgery that kept her out the previous two full World Cup seasons. She failed to crack the top 40 in three races this season, and opted to call it a career, opting to go to next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang as part of NBC's broadcast team.

Today will be my last race. I have lots of fun photos, and I'm sure there will plenty more today (watch the race!) bib 31 :) but I think this one says it all. I stood proud and tall in this years Olympic Uniform. I believed anything would be possible, and this journey shooting for the moon, left me with many bright stars. 💫 so here you go! It has been an epic battle with my hip injury, and the past 3 years I have put everything into returning to competition at the highest level and the goal to reach my 5th olympics. There have been really promising days during this challenging process and I have kept my spirits up despite many who questioned and doubted me. Sadly I haven’t found the progression to compete with the best in world again but I’m proud to have fought until the very end. It is with a heavy heart I have to say goodbye to ski racing, but I do so also with a very Full heart. I'm so grateful for all of the incredible opportunities I've been provided and the amazing friendships I've formed along the way. Thank you to my family, sponsors and my team for believing in me, my doctors, fans and especially my husband who has supported me through these difficult times. I'm happy that I get to ski my last race here in Cortina - one of my favorite stops on tour. I had my first podium here, and now I get to say farewell. I’m excited to see where skiing and life’s adventure will take me next! Thank you @spyderactive @pocsports @stockli_1935 @kttape @gopro @squawalpine @swix_sport @lesserevilsnacks @hiballenergy @usskiteam @lange_boots

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She certainly went out with a flourish, rocking a Wonder Woman suit with a red cape tied around her neck on her final World Cup run.  

"I felt like the crazier I would dress, the better and easier and less I would be emotional and cry," Mancuso told the Associated Press. "I had to pull out the superpowers for today."

American teammates, including Lindsey Vonn, met her in the finish area and sprayed her with champagne.

"It's an emotional time because it's been such a big part of my life, and I'm so grateful for that," Mancuso said. "It's been amazing to still have my biggest competitor and compatriot on the road still, competing with Lindsey. All of my friends are here and healthy, and that's really nice."

While Mancuso never dominated the World Cup circuit like Vonn, she leaves behind a legacy of skiing her best in the biggest of moments. She won four Olympic gold medals, five world championship medals and bagged 36 World Cup podiums in her 18-year career.

She'd hoped to make the combined team and compete in her fifth Olympics, but she said her body told her it was time to give up that dream.

"It's always been something looming in the back of my mind -- what would be my cutoff to really decide," Mancuso said. "I was looking forward to coming here, and the downhill, and really proving that I had what it took to make the combined team for the Olympics. It all happened really fast.

"It was really emotional after the first training run because it kind of hit me then that this was going to be too hard for my body."

Mancuso's first Olympic medal, a gold in giant slalom at the 2006 Turin Olympics, will always be remembered as the lone bright spot for a disappointing showing by the U.S. team at those Olympics, highlighted by Bode Miller going 0-for-5 in five races.

She then skied to silver in downhill and combined at the 2010 Vancouver Games, and bronze in combined at the 2014 Sochi Games. She also won seven World Cup races among her 36 podium finishes.

Mancuso's retirement left Vonn in tears. The pair of racers have competed against each other since they were 9.

"It's sad. She's not there anymore. It makes me realize how long we've been doing this," Vonn told the AP. "I think we've both reached this position because we pushed each other."

The Assocated Press contributed to this story