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Press Release for EXPN.com 17y

The Women of Winter X 11

There will be over 46 women competing in the Winter X Games from countries all over the globe, seven of whom competed in the 2006 Torino Olympics, including three Olympic medalists. As winter action sports have evolved over the last 11 years, these extraordinary women have grown with the progression. From 16-year-old Jamie Anderson who will be competing in all three disciplines of snowboarding to Olympic halfpipe gold and silver medalists Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler, below are the success stories of ten women to watch at Winter X Games 11.

Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.)
Competing in all 3 disciplines of snowboarding and being the younger competitor at Winter X Games 11, 16-year-old Jamie Anderson edged Shaun White out of the history books as the youngest medalist in Winter X Games history. Since earning the bronze in her very first Slopestyle appearance at Winter X Games 10, Jamie stood on the podium six times in the 2006 season. She was also nominated as the 2006 "Rookie of the Year" by Transworld Snowboarding magazine. Her many strengths include her aggressive and fearless ride style and adaptability towards the demands of versatile courses. Although Jamie picked up sponsors before age 10 and made her Winter X Games debut at age 13 as the youngest competitor in Winter X Games history in 2004, Jamie still manages to keep snowboarding fun.

Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen/Snowmass, Colo.)
With two SuperPipe gold medals under her belt, Aspen local Gretchen Bleiler returns for her sixth Winter X Games appearance to reclaim the gold medal. As one of the most influential female snowboarders in the history of the sport, Bleiler took home the silver medal at her first Olympic appearance in the 2006 Torino Olympics. Known for her inverted tricks, most notably, the Crippler, Bleiler has finished in first or second place in the last 17 contests that she has entered dating back from February 2005 with 10 of those resulting in first place victories. As if that weren't impressive enough already, she also went on to win Female Snowboarder of the Year at the 2006 Fuel Action Sports Awards this past November. Currently, Bleiler is organizing the first annual Snow Angels Invitational, a female-only snowboard contest that will take place at Aspen/ Snowmass in March 2007.

Torah Bright (Cooma, Australia)
Vivacious Winter X Games 10 SuperPipe silver medalist Torah Bright returns fresh off a remarkable 2006 season as a serious contender for her fifth Winter X Games appearance. At the 2006 Torino Olympics, Bright finished fifth in the Halfpipe event and took three consecutive pipe wins (at the World Superpipe Championships, Vans Cup, and US Open) shortly after. Her greatest strengths are her well-rounded pipe skills including a combination of technical tricks and lofty airs focusing specifically on amplitude, technical spins and grabs. Bright is the first Australian female snowboarder to podium at Winter X Games. When not snowboarding, Bright is also an avid surfer.

Kelly Clark (Mount Snow, Vt.)
Four-time Winter X Games medalist and two-time Olympian Kelly Clark returns for her eighth Winter X Games appearance as one of the most dominant female snowboarders in pipe history. Despite narrowly missing out on the 2006 Torino Olympic Halfpipe podium, Clark threw down one of the most remarkable halfpipe runs in the history of women's snowboarding as she flew high above the pipe, exceeding the amplitude of many men pro snowboarders. The 23-year-old seasoned veteran first participated in Winter X Games at the age of 16 where she competed in all three snowboarding disciplines. Her merits include: two gold medals from Winter X Games Six and Winter X Games Ten, top five finishes in six out of seven Winter X Games SuperPipe competitions, two Olympic appearances and has placed on the podium in six out of eight contests in 2005. As if that wasn't enough, Clark made history in 2002 in Salt Lake City as she became the first female to win gold in the Snowboard SuperPipe competition.

Grete Eliassen (Lillehammer, Norway)
Two-time defending SuperPipe gold medalist Grete Eliassen returns for her third Winter X Games to dazzle the crowd once again with her immense skills and amplitude in the Skiing SuperPipe competition. After also winning the US Open slopestyle competition three years in a row (2004-2006), the 20-year-old athlete attributes her success to her ability to handle pressure and thrives off of the demands of competition to push her past her limits. In addition to her career achievements, Eliassen volunteers for a program called U-Fit that organizes activities for autistic children.

Tanja Frieden (Thun, Switzerland)
From the moment Frieden strapped onto a snowboard in 1989, it was clear that her passion for snowboarding would not be a passing phase. After finishing in second place in boardercross at the 2000 European championships, her goal was to become number one in the world in the sport. This goal was met at the 2006 Torino Olympics when she won the gold medal in boardercross passing the race leader, Lindsey Jacobellis. When not on a snowboard, Frieden finds at least one board to be on and believes in challenging her capabilities and body's range of motion with other board sports such as kite-surfing, wakeboarding and surfing.

Elena Hight (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.)
Elena Hight is coming off a momentous 2006 season highlighted by an impressive sixth place finish in the Snowboard Halfpipe at her first Olympic appearance in Torino at age 16. With her sights set on a Winter X Games medal to add to her already impressive resume, Hight has focused on improving the technical aspect of her pipe riding in preparation. She returns for her fourth Winter X Games appearance while actually having been invited to a total of five, but had to pull out of her first invite at age 13 due to sustaining an injury in practice. During the 2006 season, Hight podiumed in six out of eight halfpipe competitions that she entered. When not snowboarding, Hight still finds time for education and focuses on her studies as a high school senior.

Janna Meyen (Bend, Ore.)
As reigning queen of Slopestyle at Winter X Games 10, Meyen was the first athlete, both male and female, to four-peat in a single discipline in Winter X Games history. A true pioneer in the progression of women's snowboarding, Meyen returns to Winter X Games 11 with a new outlook on life: to go bigger and to exceed and go outside of her comfort realm. With a style recognized as technical, progressive, strong and fast, Meyen posseses a natural progression with park riding skills and sets standards higher for women in the park. She is a dominant rider who is known to ride the bigger line of jumps in competition and can link difficult maneuvers together without reverting, a skill that sets her above and beyond her competition. With a resume of contest wins dating back to 1991, she has 18 years of snowboarding experience with her first victory at the Burton US Open snowboarding halfpipe competition at age 14.

Maelle Ricker (Squamish, Canada)
Two-time Winter X Games gold medalist and 2006 Torino Olympian Maelle Ricker has made it to the Winter X Games final in all three appearances. With her freestyle background, Ricker prefers a technical course and enjoys riding in powder, which she believes makes up a big part of her success in Snowboarder X. At the 2006 Torino Olympics, Ricker narrowly missed the podium but still managed to finish in fourth place despite an early crash in the race where she sustained injuries. During the summer, Ricker works at Ben Wainwright's freestyle camp in Canada where she has coached snowboard halfpipe for the last seven years.

Hannah Teter: (Belmont, Vt.)
From winning the 2006 ESPY award for Best Action Sports Athlete Female to winning Olympic gold in the Women's Halfpipe competition at the 2006 Torino Olympics, the extremely gregarious Hannah Teter returns to Aspen/Snowmass for her fourth Winter X Games appearance. Teter seeks to regain gold in the SuperPipe Women's competition after being the Winter X Games Eight champion. Teter developed her sense of style by emulating her four older brothers and enjoys getting amplitude along with tweaking out her grabs. As the youngest of five children and the only female, Hannah sums up her success by saying "The big bros were the inspiration, parents the foundation, I was gifted with passion and that combination is enough to make a child fly."
Most recently, Teter created "Hannah's Gold," which is a homemade maple syrup in the Teter family to benefit World Vision's work to meet the desperate needs of Africa's children.

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