The acceptance rate for Stanford’s class of 2028 was just 3.6% out of a pool of nearly 60,000 applications. Its women’s soccer team only has 20 players. And a mere eight American women qualified for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics in cross-country skiing.

It seems absurd that one person could fit into all three of those categories – a triple threat in the classroom, on the pitch and down the slopes. But don’t tell whatever those improbable odds are to Sammy Smith, the Stanford sophomore who competed in the women’s sprint classic on Tuesday morning just over two months after playing in the NCAA Women’s College Cup Final.

Hailing from Boise, Idaho, Smith grew up in a powerhouse sports family. Her mother, Kristin, gave her a pull toward Stanford, rowing there and eventually becoming Iron Man 70.3 age-group world champion. The soccer skills come from her dad, Steve, a decorated star in the sport at Duke.

She played both sports consistently growing up, finishing in the world junior championships top 10 eight times and climbing to the No. 22 spot in TopDrawerSoccer’s 2024 recruiting ranks. Incredibly, Smith actually took up many other sports, also doing moguls skiing, playing football in junior-high and was the Idaho Gatorade Athlete of the Year in cross country and track in field in consecutive years.

“Growing up, I did a lot of different sports – probably almost every sport you can imagine – and my parents made a lot of sacrifices to make that possible for me, my brother and sister, which I'm incredibly grateful for,” she said at a press conference earlier in the Olympics.

Her parents spread their sports prowess not just to her, but to sister Logan, her teammate at Stanford, and brother Tucker, who followed his dad’s path and plays soccer at Duke. But neither of them can match Sammy's prowess on the slopes anymore.

“I learned a lot growing up with my older sister. I was always chasing (her) to play catch up. She was the one who got me into cross-country skiing,” Smith said.

“Then, I was always trying to stay ahead of my brother,” she continued. “They are the two people in my life who have always pushed me, and the reasons why I'm still competing in both (sports)."

As a freshman at Stanford in the fall of 2024, Smith was used regularly off the bench, but took a big leap as a sophomore. She played in all 25 games for the Cardinal, starting 14 of them. She scored her first career goal on Oct. 25 against SMU and added two assists during the season. And for the second straight season, she helped Stanford reach the College Cup, this time advancing to the championship game.

When her soccer season wrapped up on Dec. 5, it left a tight turnaround for Smith to pursue her Olympic dreams. She finished first in the women’s classic and skate sprint at cross country championships in Lake Placid, New York, in early January. Just over a week later, Smith traveled to Oberhof, Germany, in hopes of clinching her spot.

With a 12th place finish, she did exactly that. The 20-year-old delivered a solid effort in her Olympic debut, doing enough to earn a top 30 spot in the qualifying round to reach the bracket stage. Her sprint classic journey ended after that in the quarterfinals, although it’s still possible that she competes again at Milan Cortina if she's selected for another event in the cross-country program.

Regardless, Smith has a lot to be proud of. She’s also got a lot of work to do. After the Olympics, it’s back to the classroom for the environmental systems engineering major, studying at one of the country’s most prestigious universities. And spring practice for soccer is right around the corner.