OLYMPIC SKIIER COMMITS SUICIDE

U.S. Olympic skier Jeret Peterson commits suicide




Salt Lake City UTAH




Olympic silver medallist 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 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 declined to 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 Feb. 26, 2010, when he walked off the mountain with tears streaming down his face after taking the silver medal.

"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," Peterson said that night. "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.

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Sad.