Olympic Freestyle Skiing Analysis
Hurricane gets lost in fog
SAUZE d'OULX, Italy – A Hurricane on a foggy, freezing night in the Alps wasn't enough to sweep an American nicknamed "Speedy" to an Olympic medal in freestyle skiing.
Idaho daredevil Jeret Peterson came racing down the hill, flew off the jump and unleashed his quintuple-twisting triple back flip – the Hurricane – in Thursday night's aerials finals under the lights. But, on landing, he dragged his right hand, enough of a mistake that he would finish seventh overall, just two places better than his showing in 2002.
The crowd groaned when the scoreboard flashed Peterson's score of 237.48,which at the time was good for only fifth place, with three skiers still to come.
Peterson looked disappointed, but only for a moment. It was the toughest jump ever attempted in Olympic competition, which would have pleased any adrenaline junkie.
"You know, I'm happy," Peterson said. "Obviously I didn't come here to end up in seventh place, but I came out here to do the Hurricane, and I did the Hurricane. I said I would either end up first or 12th, and I ended up somewhere in the middle. But I'm going to walk away knowing that I gave it my best and I went for it."
Peterson is nicknamed "Speedy" because someone thought he resembles the cartoon character Speed Racer. He probably could also go by "Crazy," but "Speedy" is a bit more acceptable.
The 24-year-old from Boise was trying to push freestyle aerials to new heights. The Hurricane features one twist during his first flip, three during his second flip and one twist during his final flip.
Peterson likens the feeling of twirling through the air to what it must feel like being in the middle of a hurricane.
He expounded for a few minutes after watching Han Xiaopeng of China win the gold medal.
"Oh, it's great, it's awesome. I love it," he said. "It gets me exhilarated, it gets me pumped, it gets my adrenaline going. It's absolutely everything I love about freestyle aerials.
"It's the one thing in my heart that I can't find anywhere else. There is nothing in the world that I have been able to find, including skydiving and riding my motorcycle as fast I can, that can do what aerials does for me."
However, just like real hurricanes, "Speedy" lost power on landfall.
He nearly sat down, reaching out his right hand to steady himself.
"I just went a little big is all that happened," he said. "I should have taken a small step down. I set my takeoff a little too strong, had a little more adrenaline pumping through me than I did in training, so I got my takeoff going a little more than I should have, and pulled my feet through."
Peterson was easily the crowd favorite. The fans cheered when he appeared on the big screen before his final run. He acknowledged them after landing by pumping his right fist.
The Hurricane was given the highest degree of difficulty by the judges. Had Peterson stuck the landing, he would have had a medal.
Peterson still hasn't landed the Hurricane cleanly in competition. He crashed during one World Cup race and lost a ski in another.
But thrill seekers like Peterson aren't inclined to back off.
"I had another jump that I could have done that is a little more comfortable for me to do, but it's not as risky and not as high of a reward for me if I land it," said Peterson, the only American to reach the 12-man final. "So I'm very excited about going for the Hurricane. I wouldn't change anything."
Trying it in the Olympics made it that much more radical.
"I'm very glad to say I threw it here in the Olympics, and that is what it's all about, going for it, kicking ass and taking names."
AP sports writer Bernie Wilson is covering the Olympics exclusively for Yahoo! Sports.
Updated on Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 5:51 pm, EST
