Women's Snowboard Superpipe Report

BLEILER - BACK IN THE GAME

Returns to Winter X Games and takes over Snowboard SuperPipe
Aspen, Colorado - This is what it was about. The surgery. The rehab. The long road back.

The long and windy road that is Gretchen Bleiler’s life on a snowboard returned to the summit on Saturday night in front of record crowd of 25,500 at Winter X Games Nine. The 23-year-old pride of Snowmass Village, Colorado. stomped the competition with a thrilling first run that held up and gave her gold in Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe.

Last year Bleiler had to sit on the sidelines while she recovered from surgery to repair a torn ACL. And a young hot shot named Hannah Teter swooped down and claimed the gold medal that hung around Bleiler’s neck just a year earlier.

This is how rivalries begin. Bleiler, who had competed in just three competitions leading up to the Winter X Games, was terrific - landing the Crippler (A Frontside, Backside and Frontside Five in a row) and she knew it.

"Last year I was injured and couldn’t compete," Bleiler said. "It was amazing to come back this year and win it. I can’t even explain what I’m feeling right now. It’s incredible."

Doriane Vidal (Rivesaltes, France) made the biggest move of the night, jumping from last to second with a final run score of 88.00 The run, which included a Haaokenflip had some believing she might overtake Bleiler, but she fell just short.

"I had a really bad first run," said Vidal of her 46.66 score. "The stress didn’t bother me for my second run. I really hit all my tricks and the Haaok was huge."

It was only the second Winter X Games medal for Vidal, who brought home a bronze in last year’s SuperPipe.

The aforementioned Teter (Belmont, Vt.) put together a pair of solid runs with a high score of 86.66, but wasn’t able to repeat as champion. She can still hang her hat on five Halfpipe victories since last year’s Winter X Games triumph.

"I had so much fun," said Teter. "I’m just loving life right now and am not disappointed at all."

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