When Simi Hamilton ’09 (pictured, above) got a phone call from Pete Vordenberg, the head coach of the U.S. cross country ski team, he wasn’t expecting to be named to the Olympic squad in Vancouver.  He was in his hotel room in Hinterzarten, Germany, where just two days before he had won the qualifying round of the sprint race at the Under 23 World Championships.  An unfortunate mishap with his pole in the first round of the heat races had knocked him out of contention for the win, but his speed in the qualifying round had apparently still turned some heads.

Hamilton was in the middle of a card game when Abi Holt, a coach for the U-23 team knocked on the door and asked to speak to him alone.  “I began to scan all possible scenarios in my head—my first thought was whatever I did, it’s got to be pretty bad if Abi wants to talk to me alone.”  But in the hallway, she handed Hamilton her phone and told him that Coach Vordenberg wanted to speak with him.  “At that point I started to realize what was about to happen—and that I wasn’t in trouble at all.  Pete told me that I made the team, and I think I asked him right away if he was serious.  He answered, ‘No, this is just the worst damn joke I’ve ever told.’”

Hamilton has had his sights set on Vancouver for the past two years, but this Olympic team proved much tougher to make than in years past.  The Vancouver Organizing Committee set limits on team sizes, sharply cutting the quota for the U.S. Nordic team.  With only 11 spots open for men and women combined, and half of them already claimed by World Cup skiers, there wasn’t much room for error in making his case for one of those remaining spots.

But Hamilton responded well.  He won 2 of 3 North American Cup sprint qualifiers in November and December (he placed 2nd in the third) and followed it up by taking his first national championship title in Anchorage in January.  His performance in Germany, though it came after the initial announcement of the Olympic team, was Hamilton’s closing argument that led to a decisive long distance phone call from Coach Vordenberg ruling the final spot on the 2010 Olympic team as his.

But despite the small team size for 2010 (the Americans took 17 skiers to the Torino Games), Hamilton wasn’t the only Middlebury alumnus to make the cut. He joined Garrott Kuzzy ’06, a current member of the U.S ski team who had already been given the nod for Vancouver, giving Midd alums two of the six male spots on the Olympic cross country ski team.

And in February, Middlebury did not disappoint.  On a cool and clear British Columbian morning, Hamilton led the American squad, just sneaking into the heats with a 29th place finish (in sprint racing the top 30 skiers typically advance to head to head elimination rounds of six).  Kuzzy finished just a couple seconds out of qualifying in 47th place.  While the other top American skiers failed  to reach the rounds, Hamilton’s result at a relatively green 22 years old was the high point in an otherwise disappointing day for the U.S.

“I was pretty pumped with how it went,” Hamilton said after the race.  After cooling down, he and Kuzzy both joined the spectators—including friends, family, and a boisterous Middlebury contingent—to watch the final rounds.

“I fought hard in my quarterfinal, made some really good tactical moves, and we had a really tight finish in the end.  Definitely the best part was cutting the inside on one of the tight corners and suddenly finding myself a stride ahead of Emil Joensson, the top ranked sprinter in the world.  What a cool feeling.”

Kuzzy, though slightly disappointed at not making the rounds, didn’t let it show. “Seeing Simi qualify for the quarter finals and ski right in the mix is one of the highlights of my experience here,” he said of his former Middlebury and current Olympic teammate.  While Kuzzy struggled to find his top form in Vancouver (he’s finished as high as 9th on the World Cup), the Games  had a special meaning for him.  “It’s been four years for me between graduating from Middlebury and making the Olympic team.  I remember watching the 2006 Torino Games on television in the Grille after Middlebury Carnival and deciding I was going to make the 2010 team.”

Once there, the daily rhythm of the Athlete’s Village  came full circle for him.

“It bore a striking resemblance to life at Middlebury: all-you-can-eat dining, lunch tables filled with teams and friends speaking a multitude of languages, and everyone living in a village on the hill above town.”

Following the closing ceremonies,  Hamilton and Kuzzy departed for Europe to compete in  the last World Cup races of the season.  And as the racing season melts away into spring, one question remains—what about the next Olympics?  As Kuzzy puts it,  “My plans for the future are still a bit up in the air.  I’m taking a little break this spring to build some houses in New Orleans with my buddy Dan Skold ’08.  After that I’ll sit down and figure out my next four year plan.”

Not too many people think in cycles of four years—American Presidents and Olympians might be it.  I don’t think we’ll see Hamilton or Kuzzy in politics anytime soon, but they might be smiling down at us from a podium nonetheless—in Sochi, Russia in 2014.