{"id":2456442,"date":"2020-03-28T00:05:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=323441"},"modified":"2020-03-28T00:05:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T06:05:00","slug":"aspens-hamilton-commits-to-at-least-one-more-season-on-world-cup-looks-to-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspens-hamilton-commits-to-at-least-one-more-season-on-world-cup-looks-to-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen\u2019s Hamilton commits to at least one more season on World Cup, looks to future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7138364779874\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-323441-307\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Matthias Schrader\/AP | AP | Aspen's Simi Hamilton finishes the men's team sprint freestyle semifinal cross-country skiing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP Photo\/Matthias Schrader)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Aspen&#8217;s Simi Hamilton finishes the men&#8217;s team sprint freestyle semifinal cross-country skiing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP Photo\/Matthias Schrader)<\/strong><br \/>Matthias Schrader\/AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen's Simi Hamilton finishes the men's team sprint freestyle semifinal cross-country skiing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP Photo\/Matthias Schrader)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-1-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"US Ski &amp; Snowboard\/courtesy | Aspen's Simi Hamilton\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Aspen&#8217;s Simi Hamilton<\/strong><br \/>US Ski &amp; Snowboard\/courtesy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-1-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen's Simi Hamilton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-2-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"U.S. Ski &amp; Snowboard | Left to right are U.S. cross-country ski team members Simi Hamilton, Julia Kern, Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Left to right are U.S. cross-country ski team members Simi Hamilton, Julia Kern, Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell.<\/strong><br \/>U.S. Ski &amp; Snowboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-2-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Left to right are U.S. cross-country ski team members Simi Hamilton, Julia Kern, Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-3-683x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"US Ski &amp; Snowboard\/courtesy | Vermont's Sophie Caldwell\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Vermont&#8217;s Sophie Caldwell<\/strong><br \/>US Ski &amp; Snowboard\/courtesy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-3-683x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Vermont's Sophie Caldwell\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-4-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy photo | Aspen's Simi Hamilton and Vermont's Sophie Caldwell, both members of the U.S. cross-country ski team, married this past October in Vermont.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Aspen&#8217;s Simi Hamilton and Vermont&#8217;s Sophie Caldwell, both members of the U.S. cross-country ski team, married this past October in Vermont.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/simiski-atd-032820-6-4-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen's Simi Hamilton and Vermont's Sophie Caldwell, both members of the U.S. cross-country ski team, married this past October in Vermont.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-simi-hamilton-commits-to-at-least-one-more-season-on-world-cup-looks-to-future-after-skiing\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-simi-hamilton-commits-to-at-least-one-more-season-on-world-cup-looks-to-future-after-skiing\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Feel free to make fun of Simi Hamilton for becoming the old man who refused to hang it up. He won\u2019t mind, as he did the same when he was younger. Of course, there is a drive behind the Aspen Olympian\u2019s desire to keep going that is worth noting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m turning into one of those people I always kind of made fun of a little bit,\u201d Hamilton joked. \u201cI felt like I learned a lot of things about my body and my mind this year where I can kind of tweak a lot of things this coming training season and put in a really good next year. I\u2019m psyched about giving it one more shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hamilton, 32, is an Aspen native and longtime fixture on the U.S. cross-country ski team. After his time at Stratton Mountain School and Middlebury College, both in Vermont, Hamilton went on to compete in three Winter Olympic Games (2010, 2014, 2018) and every world championship since 2011.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For both he and his wife, fellow U.S. ski team athlete Sophie Caldwell, retirement has been on the tip of their tongue for a few years now. Neither sees the 2022 Winter Olympics as part of their future, but neither is willing to rule it out, either. The one thing that drives both to keep going for at least another season is to be role models for the country\u2019s up-and-coming talent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI guess retiring is harder than we thought. I think it\u2019s a really cool time in skiing right now because we have so many young athletes coming up, and it\u2019s really cool for us to be able to overlap with them,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cWe both think it\u2019s really important to have some time on the road with them, not only to show them the ropes but because they are really fun and inspirational to have around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Caldwell, 30, is a Vermont native who competed in both the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. She remembers fondly her days as a young skier looking up to veterans like the now-retired Kikkan Randall, who in 2018 along with Jessie Diggins won the first Olympic gold medal for the U.S. in cross-country skiing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And both Caldwell and Hamilton feel the best is still coming. Young athletes like Alaska\u2019s Gus Schumacher, who became the first American male to <a href=\"https:\/\/usskiandsnowboard.org\/news\/schumacher-wins-junior-world-championships-10k-classic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">win gold in an individual race at junior worlds<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> earlier this winter, are providing them that extra bit of motivation to keep grinding for another year on the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cJessie and Kikkan and all the rest of the girls, they\u2019ve shown us what is possible and they\u2019ve kind of broken through that glass ceiling. So I think for these skiers coming up, it\u2019s just a matter of now they know it\u2019s a possibility,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cThose boys just inspire me so much every single day and I want to be around for a year while they are emerging onto the level I\u2019ve been skiing at for a while. I feel that\u2019s a pretty cool opportunity I really want to take advantage of. It would be pretty stupid to just hang my skis up as they are just emerging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">A YOUNG MAN\u2019S GAME<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fis-ski.com\/DB\/general\/athlete-biography.html?sectorcode=CC&amp;competitorid=89782&amp;type=result\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FIS profile<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i>, Hamilton has 132 career World Cup starts with four official podiums and a single win, coming back in 2013. For the most part, he\u2019s exclusively been a sprinter, which typically is an advantage for the younger athletes. The longer distance events tend to benefit the older athletes, which is what makes Hamilton\u2019s longevity as a sprinter stand out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhat is unique about Simi is he still is relevant in the young man\u2019s game of sprint. He\u2019s sort of turning the world upside down,\u201d said August Teague, the Nordic program director for the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to his mom and his dad in terms of how they brought him up and the natural skills that he developed as a young athlete that he\u2019s been able to continue his career for the length he has, but also in sprinting. It\u2019s pretty unique and pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Fighting injury and illness much of the 2019-20 World Cup season, Hamilton didn\u2019t have a lot of good things to say about his season. He finished 61st in the overall standings and 24th in sprint, leading the American men in both.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Caldwell led the U.S. women this season by finishing sixth in the sprint standings. She was 25th overall, with Diggins leading the American women by finising sixth on the season-long points list.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere were a few good moments, but a lot of really disappointing moments for me,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI just knew I still had a lot of fire inside of me to keep competing and training.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Looking ahead to next season, the highlight will be the 2021 world championships in Germany, which would be a sixth trip to worlds for Hamilton. As of now, the 2022 Olympics in Beijing have little to no appeal for him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen you look at it from the outside and when you look at it objectively, it\u2019s really hard to think we would be retiring the year before the Olympics come around again. To me, I don\u2019t feel a lot of motivation to go to another Olympics,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI\u2019m really psyched for all the athletes out there that still are, and I think we are going to put together a really, really good team for that games. I\u2019m psyched to support our athletes that are going to go to those games and maybe I\u2019ll go as a spectator or something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">LIFE AFTER SKIING<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hamilton and Caldwell met back when they were competing at the junior level. They married this past October in Vermont, where they\u2019ve been since the last week or so of the cross-country World Cup season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While Caldwell is two years younger than Hamilton, she doesn\u2019t see herself sticking around much longer, if at all, after her husband calls it quits. She\u2019s all in on this next season and like Hamilton looks forward to being a role model to the younger athletes, such as Basalt\u2019s Hailey Swirbul, but can see the finish line approaching after that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Life could take them any number of directions after they retire from competitive skiing, but a strong candidate for a landing spot could be back in the Roaring Fork Valley at some point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI recognize our job is one of the coolest jobs in the world and we get to travel, do what we love and we get to do it together. But there are also other parts of life that I\u2019m looking forward to when I\u2019m finished skiing,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see where life after skiing takes us. I\u2019ve never lived in the west; I think I would really enjoy it. And he\u2019s a western boy at heart, so I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we end up out there somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hamilton has dreams of starting a family here in Aspen, and Teague has dreams of one day getting he and Caldwell involved with coaching AVSC athletes, completing the circle of when Hamilton grew up with the club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But those dreams remain at least a year away. There\u2019s one more World Cup season, one more world championship and one more chance to experience life as a professional athlete. Hamilton wasn\u2019t ready to critique his career as whole, or judge the progress the U.S. has made in the sport over his time, but believes he\u2019ll be plenty happy with it when he reflects back decades from now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou are always going to have a few regrets about how things went, but I think that\u2019s just the nature of being involved in a really complex, a really fun, a really cool sport like cross-country skiing,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI am proud of what I\u2019ve been able to do. I feel like the biggest thing for me is to have been part of an incredible team. I think it will be a lot easier in 20 years to look back and really realize exactly what this team accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-simi-hamilton-commits-to-at-least-one-more-season-on-world-cup-looks-to-future-after-skiing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aspen&#8217;s Simi Hamilton finishes the men&#8217;s team sprint freestyle semifinal cross-country skiing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP Photo\/Matthias Schrader)Matthias Schrader\/AP | AP Aspen&#8217;s Simi HamiltonUS Ski &amp; Snowboard\/courtesy Left to right are U.S. cross-country ski team members Simi Hamilton, Julia Kern, Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell.U.S. Ski &amp; Snowboard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 07:34:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}