PHILADELPHIA -- Double backflip. Who was going to try one in the Men's Aggressive In-line Vert Final? More importantly, who was going to stick one? Taig Khris saved his best for the final, hitting not one, but two double backflips to claim the gold medal at the First Union Center on Saturday.

"Perfect twice. It is difficult," said Khris, who hit a double in each run. "The first one I almost fell, the second one also. But I had to do it. We are here in the final and the crowd was pushing me and I really gave 100 percent of myself, you know. And, well, it worked. What can I say?"

Khris scored a 97.50 on the first run, then topped it with a 98.75. Japan's Takeshi Yasutoko assembled a pair of superb technical runs - twice scoring 96.75 -- to grab the silver while Shane Yost's second-run 94.00 gave him the bronze.

Local hero Matt Lindenmuth, of Kutztown, Pa., fired the first shot in the quest to land a double. In a heroic attempt to stick the crowd-pleasing trick, Lindenmuth crashed, and crashed, and crashed ... and crashed yet again before finally hitting one when it didn't count. His perseverance, though quite admirable, was becoming painful to watch as he beat himself to a pulp trying to make his mark. As time expired in his second run, and with no hope of a medal, Lindenmuth picked himself up off the ramp after failed attempt No. 4 and went back up the stairs. He was going for No. 5. And this time Lindenmuth delivered, bringing the fans to their feet once again.

"I was kinda going all or broke, you know," Lindenmuth said. "I thought I might as well go for it, it's the X Games, try and land it and finish my run with a big bang. Things didn't work out my way but that's all right. Maybe I didn't practice it enough, or whatever. The trick won this time, it's all right."

Australia's Shane Yost slid into third place to grab the bronze.

The Women's Aggressive In-line Vert Final was anything but aggressive on Friday. At least from the competition aspect. With only two contestants in the mix, a medal was left to spare. Someone from the crowd should have strapped on a pair of blades for the bronze.

Brazil's Fabiola da Silva edged Japan's Ayumi Kawasaki in both runs to win her seventh X Games medal. It was da Silva's sixth gold to go along with one silver. The 22-year-old da Silva was a little down on herself after posting a 62.50 on the first run. "I did a trick and kind of fell a little over," da Silva said, "and you know how it is like if you mess up one trick -- you mess up a whole run." Well, it wasn't all that bad, Fabiola.

Kawasaki scored a 51.75 her first time through, then finished up with a 61.75. But it wasn't good enough to beat da Silva, a crowd favorite, who had a 65.00 on her final run.

After da Silva made her way through the staging area after run No. 1, the crowd lobbed programs, t-shirts and just about anything you could use for an autograph down to the arena floor. "No more!," a bombarded da Silva shouted after about 10-plus minutes of signing for her legion of admiring fans. They didn't listen, however, raining down more for da Silva to sign. And she obliged.

   Send to a friend  | Submit your photo or video
   Top Rated Photos |  Top Rated Videos |  Most Sent