Gregory Bretz (born December 19, 1990) is an American professional

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

and two-time Olympian (

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

). He also won the

FIS Snowboard World Cup The FIS Snowboard World Cup is an annual snowboarding competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1994. Since its inauguration, different disciplines have been added and removed, along with categories used to group them ...

for halfpipe in 2008 and finished first in the

Dew Tour The Dew Tour is an extreme sports circuit organized by Coalition 375 LLC, an alliance of elite action sports experts. History The tour was announced in late 2004, and made its debut in Louisville, KY in June 2005. The tour then made stops in ...

over

Shaun White Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X ...

in 2013.

Early life

Bretz was born in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, California, on December 19, 1990 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 The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

with his 5-year-old son, and then moved to

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is the only incorporated town in Mono County, California, United States. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,191, reflecting a ...

to take a job working at

Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located in the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera County, California, Madera and Mono County, California, Mono counties. It is home to a large Mammoth Mounta ...

. Bretz first snowboarded on

June Mountain June Mountain ski area is a ski resort, winter resort in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, located near June Lake, California, June Lake, southeast of Yosemite National Park. Mountains June Mountain ski area consists of two mountains, R ...

at age 5. Though he lived mainly with his mother in nearby

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, he saw his father often and the two developed a close relationship. He played

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

, earning All-

CIF CIF, c.i.f. or Cif may refer to: Finance * Climate Investment Funds, in international climate change agreements * Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF), a method of UK government funding for transport infrastructure * Cost, Insurance and Freight, ...

honors, and graduated from Mammoth High School in 2009.

Career

Bretz began entering halfpipe competitions at age 11. In 2008, he became the youngest rider on the US Snowboarding men's halfpipe team at the

and finished first in Stoneham, Quebec and second overall behind after

Iouri Podladtchikov Iouri Iourеvich Podladtchikov (, born 13 September 1988) is a Russian-born Swiss snowboarder. He rides goofy stance. He has competed since 2000. He won the gold medal for the halfpipe at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Early life Podladtc ...

. In January 2010, Bretz finished fourth in the

Winter X Games XIV Winter X Games XIV were held from January 28 to January 31, 2010, in Aspen, Colorado. They were the 9th consecutive Winter X Games to be held in Aspen. The events were broadcast on ESPN. Sports The following were the events at Winter X Games 14. ...

men's super-pipe competition. Within days of this competition, it was announced that he had made the US team alongside

Louie Vito Louis Philip "Louie" Vito III (born March 20, 1988) is an Italian-American professional snowboarder. He is an Olympian, Winter X Games, and U.S. Grand Prix Champion. Early life Louis Vito was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in the near ...

, and

Scotty Lago Scotty Lago (born November 12, 1987) is an American snowboarder. He is the 2004 world half-pipe champion and winner of a bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Career Lago has been riding since 1996. He is sponsored by Hudsen Collective, ION ...

for the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

in Vancouver. He finished 12th. In February 2011, Bretz finished second in the

Snowbasin Snowbasin Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Weber County, Utah, northeast of Salt Lake City, on the back (east) side of the Wasatch Range. Opened in 1939, as part of an effort by the city of Ogden to restore the ...

super-pipe competition after

Luke Mitrani Luke Mitrani (born July 20, 1990, in New York City) is a former professional snowboarder and a musician. He has 3 albums and has a love for live performances. Luke placed 1st in the halfpipe at the 2011 Winter Dew Tour with the highest score in ...

. He finished fifth in the men's super-pipe at the 2013 Winter X Games in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

. 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. He finished first at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe, qualifying him for the

Sochi Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

. Prior to leaving for Russia, he won bronze at the Winter X Games. He placed 12th in the men's half pipe final at the Olympics. In early 2016, he qualified at #1 for the finals of the US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Park City. He qualified at #1 again the following year at Breckenridge, but the competition was cancelled due to bad weather. At the 2018 competition, he placed third at Mammoth Mountain behind

Chase Josey Chase Josey (born March 31, 1995) is an American snowboarder who competed in the halfpipe at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and ...

and

Ben Ferguson Benjamin Grant Ferguson (born August 28, 1981) is an American cable television talk show host and a radio talk show host on 600WREC/Memphis, TN. His radio show originates from his home in Texas. His nationally syndicated radio show, ''The Ben F ...

with a score of 81.50. He competed but did not qualify for the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Personal life

In 2010, Bretz was dating fellow Olympic snowboarder Elena Hight. As of 2019, he and his wife Meredith were living in

Crested Butte, Colorado Crested Butte is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,639 at the 2020 United States census. A former coal mining town ...

with their two children.

External links

References

1990 births American male snowboarders Living people Olympic snowboarders for the United States Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Mammoth Lakes, California X Games competitors 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-snowboarding-bio-stub