SAN FRANCISCO -- With six first-place finishes in 2000 already, it was no surprise to see Holland's Sven Boekhorst standing at the top of the podium after Friday's Aggressive In-line Park finals on Piers 30-32.

Boekhorst put together two very technical runs in which he landed virtually every trick he attempted. His final run included a flurry of 360 and 540 spins and an upside down 720. Throw in an alley-oop pornstar, a true spin frontside royale, and a smooth, clean style, and you have the makings of a gold medal.

"I feel really good right now," said Boekhorst shortly before heading to the podium to accept his gold medal. "I won four ASA's, Gravity Games, X Trials, and now the X Games. I feel great."

Boekhorst almost missed the final cut, qualifying eighth out of 10 skaters but he put together an impressive performance when it mattered most.

"Yesterday I didn't feel like I was skating good enough to win," said Boekhorst. "But when I did my first run today I felt really good because every trick I tried I landed it. And all the tricks I landed were not safe but I still landed them. So I had a good feeling about it."

Placing second in the finals was Utah native Jaren Grob who also placed second in the qualifying. Grob had two impressive runs that included two huge 900's and several technical tricks that made use of the entire course.

" My first run was all right. The second run I just slipped up but I felt pretty good."

Australian Sam Fogarty also stayed put in third place, his qualifying position, with a strong second run that bumped him up from fifth place in medal position.

"My first run I was a little sketchy with my finger but my second run was good. I think I relaxed a little bit more," said Fogarty. "I really didn't think I would get third. I thought Aaron (Feinberg) would get third and I would fall to fourth place. But I'm happy."

Jeerasak Tassorn, skating in his first pro event, came out of nowhere to qualify first for the finals but had some slipups and trouble with some landings. He finished in fifth place.

The entire Aggressive In-line field now turns its attention to Saturday's vert ramp where Eito Yasutoko will look to repeat his gold medal performance from last year and Fabiola da Silva will attempt to regain her title as queen of vert, after coming in second behind Ayumi Kawasaki in 1999.

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