American Jeret “Speedy” Peterson won the silver medal in the men’s skiing aerials Thursday when he landed his patented “Hurricane” — a jump involving five twists and three somersaults.
That jump earned the highest score of the night (128.62), but his combined score of 247.21 put him 1.2 points behind gold medalist Alexei Grishin of Belarus.
But for someone who’s been through as much as Peterson, a silver medal was victory enough. He finished seventh in Turin four years ago, just months after watching a friend commit suicide right in front of him.
This led to problems with alcohol and depression for Peterson, and even suicidal thoughts of his own. Things appeared to be turning around when he won $550,000 playing blackjack, but he gave some of the winnings to friends and lost the rest in the real-estate market.
The Boise, Idaho, native found a job as a construction worker, but he never gave up on skiing.
"I know that a lot of people go through a lot of things in their life, and I just want them to realize they can overcome anything," an emotional Peterson said after the competition. "There's light at the end of the tunnel and mine was silver and I love it."
China’s Liu Zhongqing took the bronze, edging out American Ryan St. Onge by 2.5 points.
