Asked and Answered: Simi Hamilton ’09

Simi Hamilton ’09, named the final member of the 2010 US Olympic Cross Country Ski Team late in January, is fresh off the heels of a memorable Olympic experience at Vancouver. Hamilton finished 64th out of 96 qualifiers in the 15K freestyle race, and was the only American to qualify for the quarterfinal round in the individual Sprint Classic race. Coming away from the two weeks of exhilarating competition, Hamilton sat down with The Campus to share his stories, successes and salient advice for current Panthes.

The Middlebury Campus: How have you been training since you left Middlebury?

Simi Hamilton: My training has been mostly comprised of sprint training. Since it usually takes about 10 years to develop into a really good, Olympic-caliber distance skier, I chose to focus more on sprinting. I also naturally have fast-twitch muscles, so it made more sense to do that.

MC: What was your favorite event? Related to this, what do you think about the combination Nordic events, such as the one that combines skiing and shooting?

SH: My favorite event is sprinting, specifically skate sprinting. I’m not as good of a classic sprinter, which was the Olympic sprint this year, but I’ve enjoyed getting better at it over the last couple of years. I’m really looking forward to the sprint in Sochi in 2014, which will be skate. As for the biathlon (skiing combined with shooting), I don’t have a Midwestern accent and I’m not a member of the NRA, so therefore that sport is not for me.

MC: How did the unusually warm conditions in Vancouver affect your racing?

SH: We (the U.S. team) were all prepared for whatever conditions were going to be thrown at us. Really diverse weather is pretty typical for the Whistler area, so we knew what to expect coming into the week. But there’s definitely something that four years on the East Coast taught me — how to ski in the rain. Fortunately none of my Olympic races were in the rain, but the last two races (the women’s 30k and the men’s 50k) were both in downpour conditions. Those women especially were pretty tough that day.

MC: What does the U.S. team’s performance mean for the future of U.S. skiing?

SH: On the Nordic side of things, we didn’t have a great week. We’ll be medal contenders in at least 10 of the 12 Nordic medal events in 2014. Mark my words.

MC: How would you compare the competition at Vancouver with your college competition? Do you have any advice that you’d give to current Middlebury skiers aspiring to become future Olympians?

SH: A lot of people say that once you go to college, your potential to become a successful professional ski racer is over, but they’re wrong.

MC: What was the atmosphere of competition like? Did you get to know racers from different countries or did the teams keep to themselves?

SH: You kind of know a lot of people from other countries already, so you’re mostly just catching up with people you already know. The energy level of the athletes was good but a little stressful and intense sometimes, though. I’m definitely ready to take a break from all that, although I’ll be in Europe racing for the next three weeks. We’ll see how psyched I am about the racing atmosphere come April 1.

MC: How did you spend your free time?

SH: We watched a lot of other events on live feeds to our rooms. That was nice to have. I also played a fair amount of Guitar Hero and drank coffee. I’m good at one of those things, but not the other yet.

MC: Describe the most exciting moment for you.

SH: I almost beat the best sprinter in the world in my quarterfinal heat. That was exciting.

MC: Do you have a message you’d like to share with the current Middlebury ski team?

SH: Boom roasted.