For most professional athletes, racing for eleven months each year in two different sports would be daunting, if not downright exhausting. For Sophia Laulki, it provides balance.
During the winter, Laukli races for the U.S. Ski Team in the FIS Cross Country World Cup. During the summer she competes in the Golden Trail World Series against the best short-distance runners in the world. In between, she allows herself the decadent luxury of a whole week off.
“Coaches and teammates don’t always understand, but the truth is that I need both to be good at either,” Laukli says. “I would burn out if I played the same sport all year round.”
It’s shocking to hear someone say he does more to prevent burnout, a situation that is not lost on Laukli. “Before I started running, I almost gave up skiing because it was too much of the same,” she says. “If I do both, I’m happier, but I do sacrifice things on the margins, like the overlap in spring and fall.”
Her strategy, while imperfect, has worked well. Laukli, who is only 23, has had top seasons in both sports, proving she can compete at the highest level in trail running and Nordic skiing simultaneously.
Last summer, Laukli won a trio of famous races – the Mont Blanc Marathon, Sierre-Zinal and Pikes Peak Ascent – before sealing the Golden Trail Championship in October. Three months later, Laukli won the final stage of the Tour de Ski, making her the youngest American ever to win a World Cup race. Surprisingly, being a professional athlete was never her plan, let alone a two-sport star.
Laukli grew up in Maine, where her parents, Amy and Bjorn, both All-Americans in college, taught her to ski when she was two years old. However, skiing remained recreational for most of her childhood, while she focused on other sports such as soccer. “Skiing would never have been so important without my parents, but it is also complicated sometimes to have your parents as coaches in high school,” Laukli admits.
Instead of focusing on skiing, Laukli kept herself busy. “My parents gave me a lot of freedom. They never said no, so I tried a million things. I cut my hair, ran through the woods, rode a unicycle, made mud potions, and played with imaginary fairies. I never wanted to do what everyone else was doing because it wasn’t fun. That’s where my unique approach started.”
Laukli almost gave up skiing when she entered high school, but her older sister convinced her to continue. Bob Morse, a coach of 48 years, helped her fall in love with the sport. “He created an atmosphere that was all about the team; it was more than just racing,” says Laukli.
Laukli was the best skier in her state as a senior, but she still didn’t see a future in snow. “I remember watching the 2018 Olympics and not once thinking about racing in 2022,” said Laukli, who would represent the US in Beijing and place 15th in the 30km freestyle.
Her perspective changed at Middlebury College, when she was pushed to a new level. “I started to improve quickly, surrounded by people who were better than me,” said Laukli, who qualified for the FIS Junior World Championships as a freshman and finished second in the 5K freestyle at NCAAs. The following year, she transferred to the University of Utah and made her first start at the World Championships, further evidence of her competitive nature, which she says she inherited from her mother.
“We had an unspoken competition between us all the time, especially when we were at a similar level in college,” Laukli says with a smile. “I see how she is competitive and that’s exactly how I am. When friends meet her, they often say, ‘Now I understand where you get it from.’”
Laukli’s parents have always been heavily invested in her career, traveling to many of her skiing and running activities varieties possible. “When I was young it felt like pressure, but now I realize they just wanted to travel with me,” says Laukli. “Not every skier has parents as supportive as I am. They are my biggest fanboy and fangirl, who I try to never take for granted, even though I sometimes feel ashamed about it.”
In January, when Laukli won the final stage of the Tour de Ski, the first person she saw was her father, which seemed impossible. “No one is allowed to enter the finish area, not even my coach. But my father somehow walked in and I was blown away,” says Laukli. “I was more surprised to see him than to win the race.”
That day made Laukli the youngest American ever to win a World Cup race, but she still feels behind peers who started skiing seriously at a much younger age and training year-round. “It’s good and bad. I’m especially grateful that I came in so late, because many people burn out before they reach their potential. I’m still catching up on the technique, but that’s motivating for me. I have so much room to improve, which can be to my advantage.”
As a senior in college, Laukli was selected as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team, with no guaranteed starts. After a three-week wait, on the last day of the Games she got the chance to race and ski well until the last lap, accidentally missing a turn at the finish and dropping a few places. “The whole experience was bittersweet. I saw the spectacle, but walked away knowing I had to come back and do better.
Despite reaching the highest level of skiing, Laukli hated running for a long time. During summers in high school, she found ways to avoid it. “I would run when cars passed by, and then I would walk,” she says. “I went into the woods and sat on a stump for an hour and pretended to stretch when someone passed by.”
It wasn’t until college that Laukli learned to enjoy trail running and was able to explore the mountains outside Sun Valley and Bozeman during summer camps. for cross-country skiing, which consisted of a variety of cross-training, including trail running. A year later, while in Alaska, she signed up on a whim for Bird Ridge, a popular race outside Anchorage, and won. She then won a second race in Utah, also without training. Salomon saw some clips of Laukli racing and reached out offering to sponsor her with shoes and a travel allowance. Still, she entered 2022 as an unknown, but that quickly changed.
Laukli started the season by winning the Broken Arrow Skyrace, one of the most prestigious races in the country. Two years later, she is considered one of the dominant forces in the sport and has learned a lot in the process, even if she has won.
“I was cocky going into Pikes Peak. Normally I start with the pack and avoid being aggressive, but that day I just steered it and opened a gap,” said Laukli. “Ultimately Judith [Wyder] caught me and I just had to hope she didn’t have any other equipment. Stopping behind her main competition, Laukli held on until they got close to the finish before pulling away for the win.
“Even though I won, it was humiliating. It reminded me of my first ski races in high school, when I was passed by people who trained harder and smarter than me.
This trail running Laukli hopes to make a statement season, which she believes starts with balance. “Too much confidence is detrimental to my performance,” says Laukli. “I like being nervous at the start because it helps me race smart. If I’m not nervous, I’m too confident.”
Balance also means taking small breaks when she needs them. “When I was younger, I didn’t go anywhere, even for a day, where I couldn’t roller ski and train,” she says. “Now I give myself more gentleness and I don’t need 365 days of perfect training, which makes me less stressed in the long run.”
In the big picture, Laukli takes things one year at a time. “Maybe this won’t last forever, but racing is what motivates me most at the moment. My schedule wouldn’t work for everyone, but I like the chaos of it,” says Laukli. “My big goal is to be remembered as a two-sport athlete with a unique approach.”