Sophie Caldwell Hamilton Explained

Sophie Caldwell Hamilton
Birth Date:22 March 1990
Birth Place:Peru, Vermont, United States
Club:Stratton Mountain School
Seasons:9 – (20132021)
Wins:2
Totalpodiums:10
Teamwins:0
Teampodiums:4
Individual Starts:139
Team Starts:19
Wcoveralls:0 – (19th in 2018)
Wctitles:0
Updated:2 November 2021

Sophia Shuell Caldwell Hamilton (born March 22, 1990) is a retired American cross-country ski racer who specialized in sprint disciplines. She won two races and achieved a total of 10 podiums in World Cup competition. Since 2019, Caldwell has been married to fellow US cross-country teammate Simeon Hamilton. On March 22, 2021, aged 31, she announced retirement from competitive skiing.[1]

Biography

Early years

Sophie Caldwell was born in 1990 in the small town of Peru, Vermont, to Lily and Sverre Caldwell.[2] Her paternal grandfather John Caldwell, uncle Tim Caldwell and cousin Patrick Caldwell (Tim Caldwell's son) are all Olympic skiers. Sophie attended the Stratton Mountain School in Stratton, Vermont, a preparatory high school with specialized skiing programs, where her father Sverre was the Nordic Director.[3] She later majored in psychology at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, graduating in 2012. During her college years, she participated in the NCAA skiing championships. After graduating, she continued skiing professionally and joined the SMS T2 team in Stratton.[4]

Athletic career

Caldwell made her debut in FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Quebec's sprints in December 2012 with 14th place in the individual competition. At the 2013 World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme Caldwell finished 20th in classical style sprint. In 2014 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, she placed sixth in the freestyle sprint. On March 1, 2014, Caldwell finished third in the Lahti, Finland freestyle sprint World Cup, for her first podium.

At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, she finished sixth in the freestyle sprint. She was in position to contend for a medal midway through the final when Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen poled between her legs, causing her to crash and taking her out of contention for a medal. She finished 12 seconds behind in sixth place. This is the best ever result by a female American cross-country skier.[5]

Caldwell got her first victory in the World Cup during the 2016 edition of the Tour de Ski. She won the classic sprint in Oberstdorf, Germany on January 5, 2016. With this victory, Caldwell was only the second American woman with a victory in the World Cup, the other being Kikkan Randall. Caldwell is also the first American woman to win a classical World Cup event.[6]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[7]

Olympic Games

 Year  Age  10 km 
 individual 
 15 km 
 skiathlon 
 30 km 
 mass start 
 Sprint   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
 Team 
 sprint 
23 7
27

World Championships

 Year  Age  10 km 
 individual 
 15 km 
 skiathlon 
 30 km 
 mass start 
 Sprint   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
 Team 
 sprint 
23 8
25
27
29

World Cup

Season standings

 Season  Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standings
OverallDistanceSprintNordic
Opening
Tour de
Ski
Ski Tour
2020
World Cup
Final
Ski Tour
Canada
23 87 53
24 23 47 8 64 39
25 53 20 71
26 27 75 7
27 33 11 36
28 19 61 39 36
29 21 4 36
30 25 69 6 44
31 32 10 57

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1  2013–14 1 March 2014 Lahti, Finland 1.55 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd
2 2015–165 January 2016 Oberstdorf, Germany 1.2 km Sprint C Stage World Cup 1st
3  2017–18 1 March 2014 Lenzerheide, Switzerland 1.5 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 2nd
4 13 January 2018 Dresden, Germany 1.2 km Sprint FWorld Cup 3rd
5 27 January 2018 Seefeld, Austria 1.1 km Sprint F World Cup 1st
6  2018–19 15 December 2018 Davos, Switzerland 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd
7 align= right 1 January 2019 Val Müstair, Switzerland 1.4 km Sprint FStage World Cup 2nd
8 align=right 9 February 2019 Lahti, Finland1.4 km Sprint FWorld Cup 2nd
9  2019–20 14 December 2019 Davos, Switzerland 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd
10  2020–21 19 December 2020 Dresden, Germany 1.3 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammate(s)
1 2015–1624 January 2016 Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2ndBjornsen / Stephen / Diggins
2 2016–175 February 2017 Pyeongchang, South Korea 6 × 1.4 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rdSargent
3 2017–1813 January 2018 Dresden, Germany 6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rdSargent
4 2019-20align= right 8 December 2019 Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd   Maubet Bjornsen / Brennan / Diggins 

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Two-time Olympian Sophie Caldwell Hamilton Announces Her Retirement, Reflects On Impressive Cross-Country Skiing Career . Sophie Caldwell Hamilton . March 22, 2021 . Team USA.
  2. Web site: Sophie Caldwell . https://web.archive.org/web/20150128195534/http://www.teamusa.org/us-ski-and-snowboard/athletes/Sophie-Caldwell . dead . January 28, 2015 . Team USA . March 25, 2021.
  3. Web site: Legendary Sverre Caldwell Announces His Retirement as Nordic Director at Stratton Mountain School . Sue . Wemyss . June 7, 2019 . SkyTrax.
  4. Web site: About Sophie . Sophie Caldwell's personal website . March 25, 2021.
  5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/olympics/wp/2014/02/11/sophie-caldwell-falls-in-sprint-final-finishes-sixth/ "Sophie Caldwell Falls in Sprint Final, Finishes Sixth."
  6. http://fasterskier.com/blog/article/caldwell-does-what-she-considered-unthinkable-wins-world-cup-classic-sprint// "Caldwell Does What She Considered Unthinkable: Wins World Cup Classic Sprint"
  7. Web site: CALDWELL Sophie . . FIS-Ski . International Ski Federation . 27 January 2018.