Grob, Svobodova stake gold
PHILADELPHIA -- He's wasn't the smoothest skater in Sunday's In-line Park Final. That might better describe Franky Morales, Sven Boekhorst or Aaron Feinberg, but not Jaren Grob. Forget about style points, Grob goes for the throat.

The crowd-pleasing 19-year-old thrives on taking chances, being aggressive. Almost to a fault, Grob pushes the envelope just to be a little different from his competitors. This time it paid off for Grob, who put all the missing pieces together in his final run to score a 94.75 and claim his first X Games gold medal. He won the silver last year.

In the Women's Final, Slovakia's Martina Svobodova won gold with a 68.75 in a field of five total competitors. Women's Vert featured just two. Fallon Heffernan, a 14-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., took the silver (55.75) while Anneke Winter landed the bronze (53.50). Fabiola da Silva, who won gold in Vert, struggled in her first run (49.75) and took a wicked tumble at the start of run No. 2 which gave her a small cut on the back of her left elbow. Clearly disappointed, da Silva immediately skated off the course.

Louie Zamora's 92.00 in run No. 2 gave him the silver. Miami's Franky Morales, one of the most stylish skaters in the competition, grabbed the bronze.

After posting a 71.75 in his first run, Grob elected to throw Plan 'A' out the window. Plan 'B' here we go. "First run just didn't work out, all the tricks I tried weren't going," an exhausted Grob said right after bringing the crowd to its feet in his near-perfect winning run. "I said I have to switch the whole run up, just thought between the five minute break, did a whole new run and it went good for me. I did some 540s and landed everything good for myself."

Basking in the warmth of the crowd, an exuberant Grob ripped off his shirt and fired it into the crowd. Some appreciative fan was thankful (or maybe not) for Grob's sweaty souvenir.

Fabiola didn't have a typical Fabiola performance.

There were some memorable moments outside of the medalists as well. Aaron Feinberg, who finished fifth, had one of the sweetest maneuvers involving the "hitching post" -- a 540 right over the top. Pennsylvania's Jason Stinsmen and Holland's Sven Boekhorst, last year's Park gold winner, thrilled and chilled the crowd by throwing double backflips.

Even in a laid back competition, performing in front of a large crowd can be an unnerving experience. Making her first X Games appearance, Heffernan admitted she was a little apprehensive. But if you saw her skate, you'd never know it. Heffernan looked like an old pro.

When asked if she was nervous, the vivacious 4-foot-11 inch, 90-pounder gave a resounding, "Oh, yeah!" Much like Grob, this first-timer thrived on the crowd's energy and was always aggressive on the course. "I don't usually get this nervous, but with this big crowd and everything it's kind of nerve-racking. But they were totally supportive, so it was great."

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