Sophie Caldwell Hamilton

Sophia Shuell Caldwell Hamilton (born March 22, 1990) is a retired American cross-country ski racer who specialized in sprint disciplines.[1] 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.[2]

Sophie Caldwell Hamilton
Sophie Caldwell during World Cup competitions in Dresden, Saxony, Germany in January 2018
Country United States
Born (1990-03-22) 22 March 1990 (age 34)
Peru, Vermont, United States
Ski clubStratton Mountain School
World Cup career
Seasons9 – (20132021)
Starts139
Podiums10
Wins2
Overall titles0 – (19th in 2018)
Discipline titles0
Updated on 2 November 2021.

Biography

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Early years

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Sophie Caldwell was born in 1990 in the small town of Peru, Vermont, to Lily and Sverre Caldwell.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Athletic career

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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.[1] In 2014 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, she placed sixth in the freestyle sprint.[1] 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.[1] 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.[6]

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.[1] 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.[7]

Cross-country skiing results

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All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[8]

Olympic Games

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 Year   Age   10 km 
 individual 
 15 km 
 skiathlon 
 30 km 
 mass start 
 Sprint   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
 Team 
 sprint 
2014 23 30 6 7
2018 27 8 5

World Championships

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 Year   Age   10 km 
 individual 
 15 km 
 skiathlon 
 30 km 
 mass start 
 Sprint   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
 Team 
 sprint 
2015 23 10 8
2017 25 6
2019 27 29 14
2021 29 29

World Cup

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Season standings

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 Season   Age  Discipline standings Ski Tour standings
Overall Distance Sprint Nordic
Opening
Tour de
Ski
Ski Tour
2020
World Cup
Final
Ski Tour
Canada
2013 23 87 NC 53
2014 24 23 47 8 64 DNF 39
2015 25 53 NC 20 71 DNF
2016 26 27 75 7 DNF DNF DNF
2017 27 33 NC 11 DNF DNF 36
2018 28 19 61   39 DNF 36
2019 29 21 NC 4 DNF 36
2020 30 25 69 6 DNF DNF 44
2021 31 32 NC 10 57 DNF

Individual podiums

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  • 2 victories – (1 WC, 1 SWC)
  • 10 podiums – (7 WC, 3 SWC)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1  2013–14  1 March 2014   Lahti, Finland 1.55 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd
2 2015–16 5 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 F World 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 1 January 2019   Val Müstair, Switzerland 1.4 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 2nd
8 9 February 2019   Lahti, Finland 1.4 km Sprint F World 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

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  • 4 podiums – (2 RL, 2 TS)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammate(s)
1 2015–16 24 January 2016   Nové Město, Czech Republic 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Bjornsen / Stephen / Diggins
2 2016–17 5 February 2017   Pyeongchang, South Korea 6 × 1.4 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Sargent
3 2017–18 13 January 2018   Dresden, Germany 6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Sargent
4 2019-20 8 December 2019   Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd   Maubet Bjornsen / Brennan / Diggins 

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Sophie Caldwell Hamilton at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
  2. ^ Sophie Caldwell Hamilton (March 22, 2021). "Two-time Olympian Sophie Caldwell Hamilton Announces Her Retirement, Reflects On Impressive Cross-Country Skiing Career". Team USA.
  3. ^ "Sophie Caldwell". Team USA. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  4. ^ Wemyss, Sue (June 7, 2019). "Legendary Sverre Caldwell Announces His Retirement as Nordic Director at Stratton Mountain School". SkyTrax.
  5. ^ "About Sophie". Sophie Caldwell's personal website. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Sophie Caldwell Falls in Sprint Final, Finishes Sixth.", Washington Post, 2/11/2014.
  7. ^ "Caldwell Does What She Considered Unthinkable: Wins World Cup Classic Sprint", FasterSkier.com, 1/5/2015.
  8. ^ "CALDWELL Sophie". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
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