Add another local who is heading to the Winter Games in Vancouver.
The U.S. cross country ski team selected Aspen resident Simi Hamilton as its 11th and final competitor at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, next month, it was announced late Thursday.
Hamilton, 22, was added yesterday when the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association was granted one more spot in the new Olympic quota system.
Hamilton is one of the fastest American sprinters. He won four qualifiers in the U.S. Ski Association Super Tour, Canadian NorAm and U.S. championship events, and took the U.S. title in the freestyle sprint. Earlier this week, he led sprint qualifying in the Under 23 world championships in Germany.
Head coach Pete Vordenberg said, “Simi has definitely raised some eyebrows this season with his pure speed in the sprint events.”
Hamilton joins other 2010 Winter Olympians from the Roaring Fork Valley including snowboarders Gretchen Bleiler and Chris Klug, skiers Alice McKennis, Casey Puckett, and Jake Zamansky, and ice skater Jeremy Abbott.
