Peterson started skiing at the age of seven and finally turned to freestyle skiing at the age of 14. At the Junior World Championships in 2000 and 2001 he won the bronze medal. He made his World Cup debut on January 6, 2001 in Deer Valley , where he finished 19th. In the following season he qualified for the 2002 Winter Olympics with two top 10 results . He achieved his first podium in the World Cup on January 12, 2003 at Mont Tremblant with second place, another podium was added in the winter of 2003/04. The 2004/05 season was Peterson's most successful. His first World Cup victory on January 16, 2005 in Lake Placid was followed by two more, with which he won the Aerials discipline.
In the summer of 2005, a friend shot himself before his eyes at Peterson's Park City apartment . Although this event was a psychological strain on him, Peterson was one of the most popular favorites before the 2006 Winter Olympics . After the first round he was in third place, but fell back to seventh place because he could not stand his jump "Hurricane" (three somersaults with five screws). Disappointed at his defeat, he got drunk in a bar in Sauze d'Oulx and started a fight, after which the USOC immediately expelled him from the Olympic Village.
In the 2006/07 season, Peterson won two more World Cups. He then took a year off and worked as a construction worker in Idaho. After attempting suicide in September 2007, he underwent alcohol withdrawal treatment. In 2009 he made a successful comeback and already won his second World Cup competition. However, this year he could not win a medal in his fourth participation in world championships. In the 2009/10 World Cup season he did not come close to the level of performance of the pre-winter season. At the 2010 Winter Olympics , however, he successfully completed the "Hurricane" jump and won the silver medal.
Peterson shot himself on July 25, 2011 in Lambs Canyon between Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah. Officials discovered the body and found a suicide note near his car. According to police, Peterson had dialed 911 before shooting himself. He had been arrested three days earlier in Idaho for drunk driving in a minor case and released on bail.
United States
