"Today is a sad day,'' U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement. True enough. It is never supposed to happen this way, to the happy athlete we might remember seeing standing on the podium. Not when he is 29.

“Speedy was an amazing athlete,” added teammate Emily Cook. “I will always remember jumping alongside him as he pushed the sport, himself and his teammates to be the best. In addition to being the incredible athlete that we all knew, Speedy was a true friend…

Peterson's long-time coach and friend Matt Christensen said: 'Regardless of the amazing stuff he did skiing, it was the stuff he did for other people that was incredible to me. 'A lot of people saw his story and said he must be a wild jackass and a cowboy. He was just the opposite.'

"He spoke about battling depression and even had thoughts of suicide. That was always the hardest part for him, just living life. It wasn’t competing. It was living that was hard." Natalie said.

The skiing community reacted with shock to his death. A true innovator in the sport, Peterson landed the silver in Vancouver with a daring five-twist and three-flip aerial maneuver called the "Hurricane."

Jeret "Speedy" Peterson had the kind of smile that you couldn't help but return. He'd flash that grin, and you found yourself, without even considering why, smiling back at him…

“Today is a sad day in our sport,” Bill Marolt, the CEO of the U.S. ski team, said in a statement Tuesday. “Jeret ‘Speedy’ Peterson was a great champion who will be missed and remembered as a positive, innovative force on not only his sport of freestyle aerials but on the entire U.S. Freestyle Ski Team family and everyone he touched.”

At the 2006 Turin Olympics, there was no avoiding the spectacle that was Jeret Peterson, the American freestyle aerialist known as Speedy.

Peterson said not a day has passed when he doesn't hear something about his ouster from Italy. He doesn't want to downplay it, says he wishes he could have those moments back. But to act like that's the worst jam he's ever been in - well, that wouldn't be true either.

KM: It’s incredible. He’s always had a tremendous amount of innate ability, he’s always been able to land it when he needs to. That’s his biggest thing, ever since he was a little boy. That’s one reason why he made the [U.S.] team so early is because he could always find his feet.

By Toheeb Alejo, Scholastic Kids Press Corps

He was hoping that being the first aerialist to successfully nail a hurricane in Olympic competition would win him a medal….

By Toheeb Alejo, Scholastic Kids Press Corps

Monday, February 20—After the qualifying round in the men's aerial event, Jeret "Speedy" Peterson will be the only American representing the U.S. team in the final round.

By Emily Faber, Scholastic Kids Press Corps

Sunday, February 19—For four years, U.S. athlete Emily Cook worked to be her very best at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. But her devastating injury while training two weeks before the games put it all in jeopardy. It didn't stop her, though.