Greg Bretz

Gregory Bretz (born December 19, 1990) is an American professional snowboarder and two-time Olympian (2010 and 2014).^[2][3][4] He also won the FIS Snowboard World Cup for halfpipe in 2008 and finished first in the Dew Tour over Shaun White in 2013.^[4][5]

Greg Bretz

Personal information
National team	United States
Born	(1990-12-19) December 19, 1990 (age 34) Anaheim, California, US
Home town	Mammoth Lakes, California, US
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm) (2018)[1]
Weight	180 lb (82 kg) (2018)[1]
Spouse	Meredith Bretz
Children	2
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Snowboarding
Event	Halfpipe
Achievements and titles
World finals	1
Medal record Men's Snowboarding Representing the  United States Winter X Games 2014 Aspen Super-pipe FIS Snowboard World Cup FIS Snowboard World Cup 2008 Halfpipe U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix U.S. Snowboarding Grant Prix 2013 Halfpipe U.S. Snowboarding Grant Prix 2016 Halfpipe U.S. Snowboarding Grant Prix 2018 Halfpipe Dew Tour Dew Cup 2013 Halfpipe Dew Cup 2011 Halfpipe

Early life

Bretz was born in Anaheim, California, on December 19, 1990^[6][1] to Greg Sr. and Allison Bretz, who divorced a few years later. His father sold his machine shop in Orange County around this time, spent two months hiking in the southern Sierra Nevada with his 5-year-old son, and then moved to Mammoth Lakes to take a job working at Mammoth Mountain. Bretz first snowboarded on June Mountain at age 5. Though he lived mainly with his mother in nearby Bishop, he saw his father often and the two developed a close relationship.^[5][3] He played tight end, earning All-CIF honors, and graduated from Mammoth High School in 2009.^{[7][5][3][8][9]}

Career

Bretz began entering halfpipe competitions at age 11.^[6] In 2008, he became the youngest rider on the US Snowboarding men's halfpipe team at the FIS Snowboard World Cup^[4] and finished first in Stoneham, Quebec and second overall behind after Iouri Podladtchikov.^{[6][10][11][4]} In January 2010, Bretz finished fourth in the Winter X Games XIV men's super-pipe competition.^[3][12] Within days of this competition, it was announced that he had made the US team alongside Shaun White, Louie Vito, and Scotty Lago for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^{[3][13][5][6]} He finished 12th.^[5][6]

In February 2011, Bretz finished second in the Dew Tour's Snowbasin super-pipe competition after Luke Mitrani.^[14] He finished fifth in the men's super-pipe at the 2013 Winter X Games in Aspen.^[6] That December, he beat Shaun White for the Dew Cup with a score of 91.40 to 90.40, the first snowboarder in nearly four years to dethrone him.^{[5][1][15][16]} He finished first at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe, qualifying him for the Sochi Olympics.^[5][4] Prior to leaving for Russia, he won bronze at the Winter X Games.^[1] He placed 12th in the men's half pipe final at the Olympics.^[5][1][9]

In early 2016, he qualified at #1 for the finals of the US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Park City.^[17] He qualified at #1 again the following year at Breckenridge, but the competition was cancelled due to bad weather.^[8] At the 2018 competition, he placed third at Mammoth Mountain behind Chase Josey and Ben Ferguson with a score of 81.50. He competed but did not qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics.^[1]

Personal life

In 2010, Bretz was dating fellow Olympic snowboarder Elena Hight.^[7][3] As of 2019, he and his wife Meredith were living in Crested Butte, Colorado with their two children.^[18]

External links

• Gregory Bretz at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation