![]() But then I was good to move at 100 mph.’’ For 48 hours I relieved every moment and obsessed about it. “I was an inch away from winning a gold medal,’’ Bloom said Thursday in a phone interview. It was the lowest moment of my athletic life I felt totally defeated once again on skiing’s biggest stage.’’ I wanted to crawl outside of my body because the pain was so unbearable. “…When I returned to my apartment in Torino, I closed the door, sat down on the bed, and, well, that was it. I had prepared my entire life for this one moment and I knew there would not be another opportunity. My dreams of becoming an Olympic champion were over. I was in fourth place with two skiers to go. In those fleeting moments while I awaited my score, I felt the same gut-wrenching feeling I had experienced when I was 19 years old and participating in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. … I had made one mistake, and I knew it would cost me. I knew I made a small mistake, but didn’t know how severely the judges were going to penalize me for it. ![]() … My heart immediately dropped - I knew it wasn’t my best run. The takeoff on my D-spin 720 was not perfect, and I landed with a small compression. I got it back together quickly and was flying into the bottom on air. I felt myself getting a bit out of control, but I was determined to fight my skis back underneath me. … The snow was icier than it had been in training. “Three, two, one, over the loudspeaker, and I pushed out of the gate. In his book "Fueled by Failure," Bloom wrote of the feeling when a lifetime of preparation for gold died. Slight bobbles in the finals of the those nearly 23-second races cost him a podium appearance. In 2005, he won a then-record six straight World Cup events and again was a favorite to win gold in the 2006 Winter Olympics at Torino, Italy. Even though Bloom's childhood Olympic dream didn't end on the podium, the losses were a catalyst for the next phase of his life.Īt age 19, Bloom became the youngest moguls World Cup champion and entered the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City as the top freestyle moguls skier. The state rallied around Bloom during his two trips to the Olympic Winter Games. On the slopes: Legendary skiing filmmaker Warren Miller dies at age 93 "I’m so proud to be a Colorado native and have received so much support from the state." “As soon as they asked me, I said, 'Are you kidding me, that’s been on my bucket list,' but I never thought it would happen," said Bloom, who recently relocated to Denver after living on both coasts. Check.Īnd now every time he returns home from a trip, it's Bloom's own voice that greets him at the airport. He founded and is CEO of Integrate, a successful marketing software company based in Phoenix, Arizona. He founded the nonprofit Wish of a Lifetime Foundation, which grants seniors their lifelong wishes to pursue experiences. Check.Īfter his athletic days were over, he looked for ways to give back the love he had for skiing. "It's crazy what he's done already.''Īt age 35, Jeremy Bloom, who was born in Fort Collins but lived most of his life in Loveland, has already checked off more bucket-list items than many people have items on their listĪt age 10, he told his parents that he wanted to play in the NFL and participate in the Olympics. ![]() “Barring a tragic situation, Jeremy will leave this life with an empty tank,’’ said his father, Larry Bloom, from his Fort Collins home. Instead, he keeps freestyling through life with the same gusto that he displayed during his athletic career. With the anticipation of the Winter Olympics growing, Bloom has little time to look back on what could've been when he competed at the 20 Winter Games. Jeremy Bloom is the Most Interesting Man in the World. Publishing company executives paid him for writing a book on failure. Other Tommy Hilfiger models start working out after a photo shoot with him. Hurried travelers actually stop to listen to his voice at Denver International Airport. With all due respect to Augustin Legrand, Jeremy Bloom is clearly the Most Interesting Man in the World. Watch Video: What's left on former Olympian Jeremy Bloom's bucket list?
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