American · Toledo, Ohio, USA · Born 10 April 1981American snowboarder and pioneer of women's halfpipe riding, who became the first woman to land a Crippler 540 in competition and won Olympic silver at the 2006 Turin Games.
Gretchen Elisabeth Bleiler was born on 10 April 1981 in Toledo, Ohio, and found snowboarding at age 11 in 1992 through her school's physical education program in Aspen, Colorado, turning professional in 1996. She jump-started an inversion revolution in women's riding as the first to land a Crippler 540 in competition, and had a dominant 2003 season that included the X Games halfpipe gold, U.S. Open title, and Triple Crown of Snowboarding. After missing the 2002 Olympics on a tiebreaker, Bleiler tore her ACL during the 2003-04 season but returned to win the Winter X Games, Gravity Games, and U.S. Open in 2005. At the 2006 Turin Olympics, she dominated qualifying by winning four of the five Olympic team selection events, but was upset in the final by close friend and teammate Hannah Teter, settling for silver. Bleiler continued competing at an elite level, winning another X Games gold in 2008, and arrived at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics as a gold medal favorite before falling on both of her final runs to finish 11th. She announced her retirement in January 2014 after a 2012 training injury prevented her from qualifying for the Sochi Games. Beyond competition, Bleiler expanded into snowboard and apparel design with Oakley and K2, helped create the all-female Snow Angels Invitational competition in 2008, and now runs the reusable bottle company ALEX Bottle with her husband, alongside environmental activism and mentoring young riders at High Cascade Snowboard Camp.
Pioneering inverted tricks in women's halfpipe riding and winning Olympic silver at the 2006 Turin Games
How They Played
Technically innovative halfpipe rider known for inverted tricks and amplitude, with a media-savvy crossover appeal that helped grow the sport's audience
Lasting Impact
Remembered as Colorado's most successful snowboard athlete and a pioneering figure who elevated the technical standard of women's halfpipe riding for a generation
Career Honours
- 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist, Halfpipe
- First woman to land a Crippler 540 in competition
- 4x Winter X Games Gold Medalist
- 2003 U.S. Open, World Superpipe, and Triple Crown Champion
American Athletes