Gretchen Bleiler started snowboarding in 1992 and became a professional athlete in 1996. In 2002 she narrowly missed qualifying for the US Olympic team. In 2003 she won eight competitions in a row, including the Winter X-Games , the US Snowboard Grand Prix and the World Superpipe Championship, as well as the overall World Cup. After missing a season due to injury, she returned in 2005. In 2006 she won four out of five World Cup competitions and again won the overall World Cup. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , she won the silver medal in the halfpipe competition behind Hannah Teter . In 2008 she won the Winter X Games again. In January 2014, she announced her retirement from active professional sports.