Olympic Medalist Jeret "Speedy" Peterson

Welcome to Young Hollywood. Hey guys, it's Michelle Marie coming to you from the Haven 360 Lounge by backstage creations. I am here with Jared Speedy Peterson. He is an Olympian man. You've got your medal right here. How exciting is that?

Oh, I'm excited. It's awesome. You know, I normally I carry it in my pocket just because everybody's eyes just light up when they see it. And you know, this is something that I want to share with everybody. I didn't win this just so I could put it in a shelf at my house. I want everybody to be able to enjoy the experience. That's what the Olympics are about. They're about sharing with the entire world.

No, you need to share that with me. I have to have my hands on that thing. Can I see how heavy it is? Oh my gosh, am I gonna get crowned right now? Okay, I just won. I just have won myself right here. This is it. Silver medal. This is like this is I'm shaking right now. This is a really big moment for me.

It's pretty heavy. I know. A lot of people think that they're gonna be a lot lighter than they really are.

You know what's crazy that I don't know what went through your mind when you got this, but right now, this is just giving me chills. This is really cool.

Oh, I was so excited. You know, the best part was that uh I heard Vince Vaughn was at my competition. And unfortunately, security wouldn't let him come down and say hi to me. So uh Vince, if you're out there man, I want to I want to get a picture of you wearing my medal.

If you can relive the moment for me when you actually won. What what what would you say went through your mind?

Uh I was ecstatic. I didn't I honestly didn't know what to think. Uh it was an experience of a lifetime and it was my third Olympics and so I was a bit of a veteran going in so I knew what to expect. Uh but this is my first medal and so as far as that goes, I was definitely a rookie and I can't even put into words what it feels like to win an Olympic medal.

Well, I know of course, everybody knows you from your your signature hurricane trick.

Yeah. What the hurricane is, is it's three flips with five twists. Takes about 3. 2 seconds and we go about 55 ft up into the air. The reason it's called the hurricane is because the first time that I ever attempted it on snow, uh my coaches came down and congratulated me. We're all cheering and uh asked me what it felt like to do it and I said, I don't know. I didn't see anything. It felt like I was stuck in the middle of a hurricane.

You're a ski aerialist. Now, that that's definitely different from the skiers out there. How would you describe, you know, the feeling going down, dropping 40, 50 ft in the air?

There's really only a couple times a year where you get lost, where you don't know where you're at and we actually have coaches that will yell to us. It's like ground control to the pilot, telling us what we need to do to land on our feet. And only a couple times a year you get lost and that's that's not fun. That definitely gets scary, but the rest of the time, it's very peaceful. And I know that sounds weird. But after doing it for 17 years, you get used to you get a bit of a comfort.

You've announced that you're not going to be coming back in 2014. Is that a final decision or is that just how you feel right now?

Uh I'm pretty sure I'll end up coming back. Uh, you know, it's it's been such an experience and I think the biggest thing is that I wanted to prove to myself that I could land the hurricane and uh, you know, I I still have a passion for the sport and I have a I have a passion for competing. So, uh, don't be surprised if you do see me. It wasn't final.

So do you see anyone trying to mimic the uh hurricane and pulling their own tricks trying to top your top yours?

I think one of the coolest things in me doing the hurricane is that it forces my competitors to push their limits as well. Uh the Olympics to me is not about what medal you win, it's about trying your hardest. Uh whether you win a medal or not, I ended up in seventh in Torino, which I was I was happy with because I I went for it and that's all you can really ask.

If you were to trade places with Sean White, do you think that he can conquer the hurricane and can you conquer his goals?

Uh, that's a difficult question. Sean Sean's an amazing guy. I think he's awesome. I've hung out with him a bunch and uh you know, he's somebody that I consider a friend. He is uh he's amazing at what he does and I don't know that there's really that possibility of switching but uh you know, exactly like myself, he's an innovator in his sport and that's uh that's honestly what I uh think most highly of him about.

Hey, what's up Young Hollywood? This is Jared Speedy Peterson. Thanks for cheering me on in Vancouver.