Olympic silver medalist Jeret ‘Speedy’ Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide. Peterson, a freestyle skier who patented the so-called ‘Hurricane’ and took second place at the Vancouver Games with it, called 911 before shooting himself, police said.
The 29-year-old had been cited for drunken driving on Friday in Hailey, Idaho, and had pleaded not guilty.
Officers found Peterson late Monday night between Salt Lake City and Park City in Lambs Canyon.
Police said a suicide note was found near Peterson’s car.
They would not reveal what it said.
He was one of the most colourful of athletes, and he wore his heart on his sleeve – never more than on February 26, 2010, when he walked off the mountain after taking second place – the silver medal – with tears streaming down his face.
He said that night: ‘I know that a lot of people go through a lot of things in their life, and I just want them to realise they can overcome anything.
‘There’s light at the end of the tunnel and mine was silver and I love it.’
It was a poignant closing chapter to a career that, until then, had been filled with success on the smaller stages of his fringe sport but defined in the mainstream by his moment at the Turin Olympics where, after finishing seventh, he was sent home early after a minor scuffle with a buddy in the street.
In Italy, he was still reeling from the suicide of a friend, who had shot himself in front of Peterson only months before.
Peterson also had problems with alcohol and depression and admitted he had his own thoughts of suicide, all stemming from a childhood in which he was sexually abused and lost his five-year-old sister to a drunken driver, the Associated Press reports.
Following his arrest on Friday, in south-central Idaho, after he had been speeding at an estimated 70mph in 25mph zone, he failed three field sobriety tests, including a walk and turn and a one-leg stand, according to a police report.
Mr Peterson got his nickname because of the big helmet he wore, one that made him look like Speed Racer of cartoon fame.
But he became better known for the ‘Hurricane’ – a triple-twisting, double-flipping trick off the snowy ramp that was more difficult than anything anyone else would try.
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It was high-risk, high-reward, and Peterson always insisted he’d have it no other way. It was a sight to behold when he landed it and the judges rewarded it. Helped by the huge difficulty marks for the jump, he still holds the two-jump scoring record of 268.70, set at Deer Valley in January 2007.
He had seven wins on the World Cup circuit, was the 2005 World Cup champion and a three-time American champion.