“ I got to the bottom after that jump and I started having thoughts of—’I’ve come this far, it’s all gonna slip away if I can’t compete and do well in this competition.’ And as I walked across to the bottom of the jump to go back up the stairs, I basically said, ‘I’m not gonna let that happen.'”
The first formative moment of Matt Petri’s ski jumping career was probably when a coach convinced him to try the sport, rather than pursuing only alpine skiing. At that point, the event went from the scariest thing he’d ever done to something he couldn’t wait to do again.
The second was at the 1984 Olympic Trials, when he bounced back from a bad first jump to take his longest leap ever, along with first place and a spot on Team USA headed to Sarajevo in 1984.
But then there was another, when a serious crash before the Games even began that year threatened to take all he’d worked for away from him. On this week’s episode, Matt shares what all these experiences taught him about the importance of focus and mental health—lessons that shaped his life, both on and off the slopes.
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