# Sophie Caldwell Hamilton

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 Lily 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 standings | Discipline standings | Discipline standings | Ski Tour standings | Ski Tour standings | Ski Tour standings | Ski Tour standings | Ski Tour standings |
| Season | Age | 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

* 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 | 2017–18 | 13 January 2018 | Dresden, Germany | 1.2 km Sprint F | World Cup | 3rd |
| 5 | 2017–18 | 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 | 2018–19 | 1 January 2019 | Val Müstair, Switzerland | 1.4 km Sprint F | Stage World Cup | 2nd |
| 8 | 2018–19 | 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

* 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 |