Snowboarders to Watch Out For This Winter Olympics

With the Winter Olympics 2010 just weeks away, it’s time to start placing our ‘bets’. Here’s a list of some snowboarders I’d watch out for! Good luck riders!

Gretchen Bleiler
Gretchen Bleiler, who earned silver behind Hannah Teter in the women’s halfpipe at the 2006 Olympics, draws attention from fans for her stellar moves in the pipe, as well as her looks. Bleiler, who has dabbled in modeling, has also shown in interest in fashion, as she helped design The Bleiler Collection with Oakley.

Gian Simmen
When the snowboarding halfpipe event was added to the Olympic program at the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, Gian Simmen, a 20-year-old from Switzerland, was not considered one of the favourites. The competition began with a qualifying round with the top six snowboarders advancing directly to the final. The rest of the entrants took part in a second qualifying round where an additional six finalists qualified for the final. In the opening round, Simmen finished 21st. He scraped through to the final by placing third in the second qualifying round. Once in the final, however, Simmen performed like a champion. Competing in a downpour, he put together two solid runs and won gold. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’ve never ridden like this before. Maybe only in my dreams.” Simmen’s has since competed in the Salt Lake City 2002 and the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, but has never returned to the medal podium.

Lindsey Jacobellis
As a two-time world champion and a two-time World Cup champion, Lindsey Jacobellis has dominated the snowboard cross. However, there is one title she doesn’t yet have – Olympic champion. Jacobellis seemed to be on her way to gold at the 2006 Torino Games, but she fell when she attempted a trick late in her run and ended up finishing second. Now the Vermont native is back for her second Olympics, looking to grab the gold that escaped her in 2006.

Hannah Teter
Hannah Teter is back and looking for another gold in the women’s halfpipe to go along with her first-place jewel from the 2006 Olympics. Teter, who is part of a distinguished snowboarding family, has made an impact for doing more than snowboarding in between Olympics – she has also been busy running a charity, Hannah’s Gold. She donates all of her snowboarding prize money to the charity, which helps support a village in Kenya.

Shaun White
Shaun White (read our Shaun White write up here), the reigning gold medalist, is ready to tear up the halfpipe in his second Olympics. The red-headed snowboarder, who is popularly referred to as the “flying tomato,” has dominated snowboarding as arguably the sport’s most popular rider. The ESPY award winner and star of both the Winter and Summer X Games (as White also stars in skateboarding), took gold in the superpipe at last year’s Winter X Games and was named the Burton European Open Overall Champ.

Who are you rooting for?