3 local athletes you should know who competed in the Winter Olympics

In all, at least 56 winter or summer Olympians came from, lived in or had a connection to the Miami Valley, a special report found last year.

Here are three local winter Olympians you should know:

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1. Gretchen Bleiler

Bleiler, a snowboarder, attended Harman Elementary in Oakwood. She won the silver medal for the women’s halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.

While Bleiler was raised in the area, she was born in Toledo, according to her website.

2. Joe Tyler

Joe Tyler, a bobsledder, graduated from the University of Dayton in 1970. He finished in sixth place on the two-man sled and in 13th place on the four-man sled in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in New York.

While he attended UD, Tyler played football and was named the Flyers’ top lineman in 1969.

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3. Louie Vito

Vito, a snowboarder, is a Bellefontaine native. He came in fifth place in the men’s halfpipe at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

Vito later came in sixth place in the superpipe at the 2017 Aspen X Games, earning a score good enough to beat each of the last Winter Olympics’ gold, silver and bronze medalists.