Athlete Bios
Snowboarding
Snowboarding icon Gretchen Bleiler seeks Olympic gold
Last Updated: Friday, February 5, 2010 | 4:53 PM ET
New York Times for CBC Sports
American Gretchen Bleiler is considered one of the most consistent and popular snowboarders of the last decade. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)Gretchen Bleiler is an Olympic silver medallist in snowboard halfpipe. One of the most consistent and popular riders of the last decade, Bleiler, 28, has won Winter X Games medals and become the embodiment of women’s snowboarding, appearing prominently in advertisements and magazine photo shoots.
When Bleiler was 10 her family moved from Ohio to Aspen, Colo., were she began to ski and snowboard. After high school, she delayed college to pursue a snowboarding career, working in an Aspen bakery to make ends meet. In 2002, she narrowly missed qualifying for the United States Olympic team, which turned into a motivating event. “The way I saw it,” she said, “I wasn’t ready.”
With new motivation, Bleiler revamped her training routine. She focused on learning new tricks and by the end of 2002, became the first woman to land a crippler 540. The trick is an inverted aerial performed while rotating one and a half times. Its high potential for serious injury explains the crippler's ominous name.
The crippler has since become her signature manoeuvre during runs, often on the first hit in the halfpipe. With a repertoire of new tricks, Bleiler enjoyed a breakout year in 2003, winning eight straight halfpipe competitions, including the first of three United States Open halfpipe titles and three Winter X Games gold medals.
"The crippler has gotten me a lot of my success,” Bleiler admits. “But it took a long time and multiple black eyes to figure out.”
Bleiler was a favourite to win gold in the halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympics. But she settled for silver behind U.S. teammate Hannah Teter, who landed a 900-degree spin (two and a half rotations). Again, Bleiler went to work improving her riding. She has added a crippler 720 (two rotations) and a 900.
While attempting a 900 at the 2009 Winter X Games, Bleiler clipped the lip of the halfpipe with her board while attempting to land and fell hard to the bottom, striking her head and knocking her out of competition. The crash left her with two black eyes.
Despite her skills on the hill Bleiler, a petite blonde, may be equally well known for her photogenic qualities. In 2004, she appeared on the cover of FHM magazine wearing only body paint, and in subsequent issues she appeared in a bikini. Ever since, she has been asked to pose for magazines in various states of undress. "Sometimes I want to tell people, ‘By the way, I’m a snowboarder, too,” she said.
