Simi Hamilton’s duct-tape days are over. After a spectacular winter that included an appearance at the 2010 Olympics and a national championship, the newly-minted U.S. Ski Team (USST) member begins the 2010-2011 season with a big jump in support and a long-term plan. Gone are the days of
The last time Andy Newell and Ivan Babikov skied together, they were fighting tooth and nail over the top of the Lonesome Pines Ski Area in Fort Kent, during the last stage of the 2010 SuperTour Finals in Fort Kent, Maine. The two were at it again on Monday morning, but in a much more amicable—and slower-paced—setting, as the U.S. and Canadian national teams combined forces to kick off their first camp of the year...
FasterSkier Rookie of the Year It is hard to define a “rookie” in cross-country skiing. First year on the World Cup? First season as a senior? First year in college? First year skiing? We keep it loose and give the award to skiers who take a major step forward while moving up to a new level of competition. Rookie of the Year (men): Simi Hamilton (USA). In his first season out of college, Hamilton moved...
Andy Newell (USST) and Torin Koos (USST) are the two best male sprinters in the United States. But not until this frigid March day, in one of the furthest-flung corners of the country, did they finally go head-to-head in the classic sprint at the 2010 SuperTour Finals in Madawaska. It was worth the wait. After a qualifying round, a quarter, and a semifinal heat, the battle came down to a double-pole drag race in the...
The SuperTour Finals fits into a relatively new genre of competition – that of “mini-tour.” The term derives from the Tour De Ski, the multi-stage World Cup event featuring eight races in ten days. And while World Cup points are awarded for each individual race (half points actually), the big prize is the overall title. The success of the Tour on the global stage has led to the concept of the mini-tour, a similar format...
Fort Kent, ME—Spring has come early to Aroostook County, but the snow has stayed with us. Daytime highs in the 40s and 50s with cold, clear nights well below freezing have made for excellent crust skiing, fast early morning conditions and softening snow in the afternoons. Currently, our extended forecast calls for similar conditions with chances of freezing precipitation and snow on Thursday night and next Monday. While the snowpack is well below normal for...
There are very few athletes in the U.S. brimming with potential like Simi Hamilton. With a national championship in the skate sprint, a win in the qualifying round of the same event at the U-23 World Championships (punctuated by an
Whistler, British Columbia – The heavy snow had stopped, and as Marcus Hellner made his way around the stadium, the clouds broke. For the first time in two days, the sun shown down on Whistler Olympic Park, revealing a golden afternoon for the Swedish men’s cross-country team. It took 22 years and a return to Canadian soil for Sweden to regain the top step of the podium in the 4x10km relay. And for the Anders...
For some people, being stuck in a quarterfinal heat at the Olympics with Emil Joensson (SWE) would be intimidating. Not for Simi Hamilton. “Those days are over,” he said afterwards. The young American sprinter provided a tantalizing glimpse of the future in the sprint yesterday, striding strongly and confidently in the lead of his quarterfinal up the course’s final climb—ahead of Joensson and other World Cup veterans like Kalle Lassila (FIN) and Peeter Kummel (EST)—before...
Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted sprinters on their arrival at Whistler Olympic Park this morning for the men’s and women’s sprint. This is a big chance for the Canadians and the U.S.—all six Americans are capable of qualifying for the heats, with three medal hopefuls in Kikkan Randall, Torin Koos, and Andy Newell. The Canadians are set up just as well, with Devon Kershaw, Sarah Renner, Dasha Gaiazova, and Perianne Jones gunning for the...
Hometown: Aspen, CO Birthplace: Aspen, CO Birthdate: 05/14/1987 Height: 5-10 Weight: 180 Club: Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation School: Middlebury College Equipment: Fischer, Swix, Rudy Project Top Results: 2 time U.S. Champion; 9 time Junior National Champion; 3 time NCAA All-American A talent at the junior and collegiate level, this year 22 year old Simeon “Simi” Hamilton caught the eye of national team coaches with his impressive sprint speed. This season he won four sprint...
FasterSkier’s Nat Herz captured some of Simi Hamilton, Ida Sargent and other top American’s action during the sprint heats at the U23 World Championship earlier today.
After a mishap in a race in Canada, Simi Hamilton said that he secured the grips on his Swix Stars with “about a pound” of glue. It still wasn’t enough. Leading his heat through the initial downhill in the U-23 skate sprint today, a Norwegian skied over one of Hamilton’s baskets as he came out of a tuck. The grip came off, and the whole pack went by. Hamilton was left screaming at the fans...
He’s the real deal. That’s what U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Matt Whitcomb said this morning about Simi Hamilton, after the skate sprint national champ took first place in the qualifying round of the same event here in Hinterzarten. After some drizzle overnight, the race trails at the Notschrei Nordic Center were covered with a thin icy crust this morning, which made for some slick skiing and a fast qualifying round—Hamilton’s time was around 2:20....
After four years in college, Simi Hamilton isn’t supposed to know how to sprint. Try telling that to Mike Hinckley. With 500 meters to go in the freestyle sprint at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Hinckley made a huge move on the field, passing Hamilton on the outside of the last significant hill on the course. After finishing second last year, it looked like Hinckley had this one in the bag. But on the ensuing downhill,...
268 trail runners and off season Nordic Skiers turned out on a hot sunny summer morning for the annual Elephant’s Perch Backcountry Run(10 miles/16.5 miles), north of Ketchum. The runners traversed from Hulen Meadows through Adams Gulch on a trail with many steep climbs and long descents, mostly single track. Many SVSEF skiers were among the racers. Mike Sinnott, SVSEF ODT, won the Men’s 10 mile race, posting a time of 57.29, more than 3...