Troubled Olympic skier takes his own life
By Liz Lockhart
The headlines tell of the death of Jeret Peterson in Utah last Monday. The press is widely reporting how he made a 911 call to emergency services to tell them where to find his body before he pulled the trigger of his gun and shot himself in the head. He had left a suicide note. He was just 29 years old.
What is less well reported is the background to this tragic, untimely and heartbreaking death.
Let us start with the celebrity life of this American silver medal-winning Olympic Skier. Not many of us will have heard of this brilliant athlete and troubled soul unless we are skiing enthusiasts. Jeret Peterson was given ‘Speedy’ as a middle name because of his amazing skiing abilities and the helmet that he wore which made him look like the cartoon character.
His signature jump was known as ‘The Hurricane’ which involved a breathtaking aerial move that consisted of five twists and three somersaults at more than 50 feet in the air. Perhaps he perfected this move as a flight to freedom from his demons or perhaps he perfected it as a death defying exercise.
Peterson won silver at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February 2010.
Peterson was known as a kindhearted athlete with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous smile. He had championed child abuse charities and addressed fundraising events for this cause. He was a truly caring man, according to reports from his friends.
Petersons’ childhood had been a particularly tragic one. When he was 5 his sister was killed by a drunk driver which caused immense grief. In 2002 Sports illustrated magazine wrote that Peterson was sexually abused as a child. He later spoke about this experience at a fundraiser aimed at child abuse prevention.
Jeret's well documented past tells of battles with alcohol, gambling and depression. He was sent home early from the 2006 Turin Olympics after getting into a brawl with a friend after a night out. Just months before this incident a friend of Peterson’s had committed suicide and he had found the body.
Peterson said that he had conquered his alcohol problem and in a 2008 interview Peterson said ‘I had to quit. I was headed down the wrong path and I just needed to kind of pull back the reins and say, ‘What am I doing with my life? Am I going to look back in 20 years and be proud? At that point, my answer was NO’.
A few months ago Peterson had found the body of his friend Trevor Fernald who had shot himself in the head. They were in Italy at the time.
Three days before his death Peterson was arrested for driving whilst intoxicated, a charge which he denied.
Who can imagine what demons were at play in the mind of this tormented man? It is another sad tale of youth and talent being taken from the world. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this time. May he rest in peace.
