Police: Freestyle Olympic skier kills self in Utah

He was one of the most colorful of athletes, and he wore his heart on his sleeve — never more than on Feb. 25, 2010, when he walked off the mountain with tears streaming down his face after taking the Olympic 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 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.

Over the next months and years, he began filling in the details of a life story replete with incredible highlights and crushing disappointments.

While in Italy, he was still reeling from the suicide of a friend, who shot himself in front of Peterson only months before.

Peterson also had problems with alcohol and depression and admitted he had his own thoughts of suicide, all stemming from a childhood in which he was sexually abused and lost his 5-year-old sister to a drunken driver.

He picked up his nickname as a young boy because the big helmet he wore reminded his coaches of Speed Racer of cartoon fame.

But as his career progressed, he became better known for his signature jump, the “Hurricane’’— five twists packed into three somersaults as he vaulted off the snowy ramp and flew 50 feet in the air.