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.
Biography Early years Sophie Caldwell was born in 1990 in the small town of Peru, Vermont, to Lilly and Sverre Caldwell. 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. 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.
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.
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.
Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games 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 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 Season standings Season Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standingsOverallDistanceSprintNordicOpeningTour deSkiSki Tour2020World CupFinalSki TourCanada 2013 23 87 53 — — — 2014 24 23 47 8 64 39 2015 25 53 20 71 2016 26 27 75 7 2017 27 33 11 36 2018 28 19 61 39 36 2019 29 21 4 — 36 2020 30 25 69 6 44 2021 31 32 10 57
Individual podiums 2 victories – (1 , 1 ) 10 podiums – (7 , 3 ) No. Season Date Location Race Level Place1 2013–14 1 March 2014 Lahti, Finland 1.55 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd2 2015–16 5 January 2016 Oberstdorf, Germany 1.2 km Sprint C Stage World Cup 1st3 2017–18 1 March 2014 Lenzerheide, Switzerland 1.5 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 2nd4 13 January 2018 Dresden, Germany 1.2 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd5 27 January 2018 Seefeld, Austria 1.1 km Sprint F World Cup 1st6 2018–19 15 December 2018 Davos, Switzerland 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd7 1 January 2019 Val Müstair, Switzerland 1.4 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 2nd8 9 February 2019 Lahti, Finland 1.4 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd9 2019–20 14 December 2019 Davos, Switzerland 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd10 2020–21 19 December 2020 Dresden, Germany 1.3 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd
Team podiums 4 podiums – (2 , 2 )
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 / Diggins2 2016–17 5 February 2017 Pyeongchang, South Korea 6 × 1.4 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Sargent3 2017–18 13 January 2018 Dresden, Germany 6 × 1.3 km Team Sprint F World Cup 3rd Sargent4 2019-20 8 December 2019 Lillehammer, Norway 4 × 5 km Relay C/F World Cup 2nd Maubet Bjornsen / Brennan / Diggins
References
External links
Sophie Caldwell's blog (archive)