Bloom: Still a ‘Great Day’

Jeremy Bloom wasn’t about to let the end of his skiing career -- if this was indeed it -- be marred by a slight bobble.

The celebrated American skier wasn’t about to sulk after struggling with the landing of his second aerial in the men’s moguls, losing costly points and finishing sixth Wednesday at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

“It was a great day,” he said. “I can’t allow a small mistake to ruin that.”

As he spoke to reporters beside the hill here, the medalists were being paraded before a noisy crowd.

Dale Begg-Smith of Australia won the gold, Mikko Ronkainen of Finland the silver and Toby Dawson of the U.S. took the bronze.

Bloom, favored to reach the podium in the days before the competition, had come up short a second time. He finished ninth in this event at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

“My biggest goal was to enjoy the Olympics,” he said. “In 2002, I was young and I was wrapped up in different aspects of, maybe, celebrity-ism.”

He was already a star in 2002, one of the top names on the moguls circuit and only a few months from joining the University of Colorado football team, where he would make freshman All-American in the fall.

He also had a model’s good looks that would lead to photos in GQ and other magazines.

“This time,” he said, “I wanted to enjoy it because it might be my last experience at the Olympics.”

Bloom said his other goal was to ski well, “and I came very close to accomplishing that.”

His run started well enough with a double-heli aerial. But then came a stutter in the second moguls section and that rough landing on a 720 off-axis jump near the bottom.

“It’s a judged sport,” he said. “I didn’t see how big the mistake was.”

If nothing else, the 23-year-old will be too busy to mope about his performance. He will fly to California on Friday morning to begin training for a shot in the NFL as a receiver and return specialist.

Bloom hasn’t played football since the 2003 college season. The NCAA declared him ineligible in August 2004 for accepting endorsement money to pay for his skiing.

Still, the NFL has invited him to participate in its mass tryout, known as the combine, later this month.

“Those other guys that just finished college football, they’ve had three months to train,” he said. “I get 11 [days].”

He smiled as he said this and insisted, once again, that he would not view these Olympics as a disappointment.

“I felt great today,” he said.