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Gretchen Bleiler
- 2006 Olympic silver medalist in halfpipe
- 2003,2005 Winter X Games superpipe champion
- Dominated in 2003, winning virtually everything including World Championships, X Games and the overall Grand Prix
- Three-time Vans Triple Crown of Snowboarding’s champion (2001-03)
- Suffered a season-ending knee injury during a practice and had ACL surgery in 2003, returned after a year of rehabilitation to win at the 2005 X Games
- Tied for the final 2002 Olympic Team slot, but lost out on a triple tie-breaker
- Earned the U.S. National Halfpipe title in 2001
- Finished first or second in 18 out of 21 competitions the 2002 and 2003 seasons
- One of only four female athletes invited to the Artic Challenge in Norway
- Voted the “Female Reader’s Choice” award winner in Transworld Snowboarding’s 6th Annual Riders Poll twice (2004, 2003)
- Nominated for the prestigious Laureus Award “Alternative Action Sports Person of the Year” category and the “World Alternative Sportswoman of the Year” in 2004
- Featured in one of four commercials advertising the 2004 X Games and gained some commentating experience as the EXPN Today men’s halfpipe finals commentator
- Graced the cover of FHM’s Girls of Winter X edition and was featured in the X Games edition of ESPN The Magazine
- Joined the U.S. Snowboard Team straight out of high school in 1999
- Listens to Wu Tang, Tribe Called Quest, Nelly Furtado, and Britney Spears
- Enjoys mountain biking, hiking, reading and yoga
Bleiler gave herself a black eye while trying to perfect her Crippler, an inverted spinning trick, in an icy pipe before the final Olympic qualifier in 2002. Growing up, Gretchen wanted to go to the Olympics as a swimmer and a diver, but when she moved to Colorado, she thought her way into the Games was through hockey. However, she found a way to incorporate some of the same diving and ice skating techniques through snowboarding.
Related Links
U.S. Olympic Fan Club: Support the next Gretchen Bleiler ... Get a snowboarding pin!
Photo Gallery: Go Gretchen Go
Photo Gallery: The Women of Snowboarding
Photo Gallery: Bleiler and Teter capture top spots in Women's halfpipe
Wallpaper: Go here to see Gretchen Bleiler wallpapers
Feature: Bleiler talks about past and future
Feature: Gretchen Bleiler finds gold a X Games
Audio: Aspen gets mad props
On winning her second Winter X Games gold: “Next to the Olympics, the X Games are the biggest event in snowboarding. I worked hard for my first gold, but this year I worked hard in a different way. I had to work hard to get back what I knew I had in me, which basically took pushing myself mentally. When I won this year, it was a real feeling of satisfaction, knowing that I had won the mental battle and was back.”
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Height: 5’5
Born: 04/10/1981
Hometown: Aspen, CO
Resides: Aspen, CO
Sport: Snowboarding
Event: Halfpipe, Superpipe
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