Getchen Bleiler
Gretchen Bleiler
Professional Snowboarder - Three-time X Games Gold Medalist and Olympic Silver Medalist
Bio:
Gretchen Bleiler is one of the most accomplished female snowboarders in the world. As a top to her incredible list of medals and contest wins, Gretchen won the Silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.
Gretchen aspired to compete in the Olympic Games from a very young age, and found her passion in Snowboarding at age 11. She has been riding ever since and is now recognized as a role model and pioneer in the sport.
In the 2007/2008 season, Gretchen competed in contests with the US Snowboarding team, winning the Abominable Snow Jam, Breckenridge Grand Prix and the 2008 Winter X Games. She also worked on developing her all-around riding and spent more time filming for snowboard videos and shooting photos for snowboard editorial.
In January 2008, Oakley launched the GB Collection, their first ever athlete-dedicated signature line of outerwear, clothing, goggles and accessories. Product will be in stores in Fall 2008 and Gretchen is currently working on the 2009 line.
For the past two years, Gretchen has been developing and planning the first-ever all-girls halfpipe competition and photo contest, the Snow Angels Invitational, which came to fruition in Aspen this April with world. She has now begun planning for next year's event.
This summer, Gretchen will be the on-air host for Yahoo! Sports at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, with daily 3-minute updates and athlete interviews. In addition to the Games themselves, Gretchen will be covering the Olympic Trials for Gymnastics, Swimming and Track and Field.
Gretchen is an active spokesperson in the fight against global warming, working closely with stopglobalwarming.org to build awareness around this important cause.
When she's not competing, Gretchen enjoys surfing, mountain biking, interior design and fashion.
Corporate Sponsors: Oakley, K2, Aspen/Snowmass, Giro, US Snowboarding, Level Gloves, Harley Davidson, go211.com, Nike, Mission Product, Coca-Cola
Career Highlights:
2008 Snow Angels Invitational, 1st Place
2008 US Open, 2nd Place
2008 Nippon Open, 2nd Place
2008 X Games Halfpipe, Gold Medalist
2007 Breckenridge Grand Prix, 1st Place
2007 Abominable Snow Jam, 1st Place
2007 US Open Halfpipe 2nd Place
2007 Grand Prix 1st Place, Tamarack
2007 Grand Prix 2nd Place, Mt. Bachelor
2007 Mount Baker Banked Slalom, 3rd Place
2007 X Games Halfpipe Silver Medalist
2006 FIS World Cup 1st Place, Saas Fe, Switzerland
2006 Olympic Silver Medalist, Torino, Italy
2006 Overall Grand Prix Champion; won four of the five Grand Prix events determining Olympic team
2005 X Games and Gravity Games Gold Medalist
2005 US Open Halfpipe Champion
FIS World Cup 1st Place, Bardonecchia, Italy
Eight straight wins in 2003
2003 X Games Halfpipe Gold Medalist
2003 US Open Champion
Won 2003 Overall Grand Prix Title
One of only four females invited to coveted 2003 Arctic Challenge
2002 and 2003 Vans Triple Crown Overall Title Winner
2003 World SuperPipe Champion
Awards:
Won 2008 Colorado Sportswoman of the Year Award
Nominated for 2007 Teen Choice Award: Best Female Action Sports Athlete
Voted 2006 Female Snowboarder of the Year at Fuel's inaugural Action Sports Awards
Nominated for 2006 ESPY Award
Won 2004 Colorado "Female Athlete of the Year" Award
Earned Transworld Snowboarding's 2004 Reader's Choice Award
Nominated for 2004 Laureus "Female Action Sports Athlete" Award
Named Snowboarder and Transworld Snowboarding 2003 "Female Rider of the Year"
Gretchen's official website is gretchenbleiler.com