If cross-country skiing were a royal family, Sophie Caldwell would likely be the Dutchess of Stratton. The 26-year-old granddaughter to John Caldwell, a former Olympian and the author of the first American guide to cross country skiing, Sophie grew up at the Stratton Mountain School, where her father, Sverre served as headmaster before settling in as the program director for the cross country and elite teams.

For her part, Caldwell has been a NCAA podium finisher, a World Cup podium finisher and the top U.S. woman to race in an Olympic games with her sixth place finish in the Sochi freestyle sprint.

The 2015-16 season was a historic one for Caldwell. She scored a career first World Cup win in a 1.2k classic sprint, after out-lunging Norway’s Heidi Weng in the finals of the third stage of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany. It was the first time a U.S. skier had won a classic sprint. Caldwell was also a part of the historic 4x5k relay team, who scored a second place finish in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. It was the best ever U.S. women’s relay finish, as strong opening classic legs—one skied by Caldwell—set the team up for success. 

FIRST TRACKS
Caldwell comes from a family of skiers and thinks that her learning to walk and learning to ski happened simultaneously. Her grandpa and uncle were both Olympic skiers, her dad is a ski coach, and her mom was a ski racer. Caldwell grew up with skiing in her backyard in Vermont, so it quickly became part of her lifestyle. Her parents encouraged her to try all kinds of sports growing up, but she eventually decided to focus on skiing, attending Stratton Mountain School for high school and then skiing for four years at Dartmouth College.

OFF THE SNOW
When Caldwell isn’t skiing, she likes to stay active in other ways—like running and hiking. She is very close with her family and has twin siblings who are two years younger than her. Caldwell enjoys spending as much time as possible with her siblings and cousins during the summer. She majored in psychology at Dartmouth and would like to eventually go back to school for education or psychology.