PHILADELPHIA -- Though most of the 20,000 or so people at the Vert Doubles Final on Sunday was undoubtedly there to see Tony Hawk, there was another figure that seemed to attract the fans' attention … her name was Jen O'Brien.

Even if you were sitting in the cheap seats at the First Union Center, you could still make out the fact that one of the skaters on the vert ramp had a long blonde pony tail … and it wasn't Tas Pappas.

Even though it didn't count, the pair went all out in their run.

O'Brien, the girlfriend of Bob Burnquist, who won the Vert gold medal on Saturday night, was filling in for an injured Lincoln Ueda, who normally pairs with Burnquist in doubles competition.

Although the rules prohibit O'Brien from competing, she was still allowed to participate as a demonstration.

Burnquist, after finding out he had the green light to skate with O'Brien, was all smiles.

"It feels good. I'm just stoked that they let us in there because it's such a unique thing and it's never happened before," said Burnquist. "They were having a hard time figuring out how to do it with all the rules and everything. We are having a great time skating together, though."

Ueda broke his ankle the day before the duo was to leave for Philadelphia which left Burnquist without a partner. It didn't take long for him to come up with the idea.

"Jen was going to be here anyway so I figured we should be able to skate together. We actually do doubles. We skate together at the house where I live. We have a ramp out there and do a couple things."

She may not have Bob's trickery, but she's much cuter.

O'Brien wasn't sure what to make of her boyfriend's proposal at first, but was quick to jump at the opportunity.

"I didn't really take it too seriously until we got here," said O'Brien. "He was just like 'you're skating with me.' I was like 'OK'. And I got to skate the ramp the other night so I feel OK with it."

But Burnquist wasn't sure if his idea of mixed doubles would go over well with the suits.

"I wanted her to skate here but it wasn't really up to me, it was up to the officials since she is not competing in the X Games. But they were cool enough to let us do our thing."

Burnquist wasn't worried about the fact that she would be competing in front of an arena jam packed with people.

"She has done contests before so I think she is doing great. I've been the one making all the mistakes."

O'Brien's solid riding and smooth style caught the eyes of more than a few of the young girls in the audience (as well as the guys) who haven't had many females to root for during the Games.

"It's an awesome feeling," said O'Brien on being the only female skateboarder on the ramp. "I feel so great about that. It's been so hard to break into this. They don't have any of the girl skateboarders in the competition at all. So I'm just really stoked to get my foot in the door. I'm sure a lot of girls will see this and be really stoked."

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