Press Release - Skateboarding Park
Last run in skateboard street gives Brazilian third gold of event Philadelphia, Penn. - Rodil de Araujo Jr. came to Philadelphia to do his best work and the 23-year-old Brazilian left the "City of Brotherly Love" with a handful of gold to show for his efforts. Araujo Jr.'s finishing move came in during his final run on Monday in the Skateboard Park competition. It was a run that included a Switch Frontside Boardslide, a Frontside Flip-to-Fakie and a Switch Frontside Tailslide-to-Fakie that helped seal the deal with a score of 93.00. The finale finished off a remarkable 10-day run for de Araujo Jr., who also brought home gold in both the Skateboard Street and Skateboard Best Trick. Wagner Ramos was right on his fellow countryman's heels, riding a first run of 92.00 to a second-place finish, while Eric Koston rounded out the top three with a 90.75. "I'm really stoked to win this one for Brazil," said de Araujo Jr. "I came here to do my best work and I won three medals because I went out there and worked as hard as I could." Koston, 13th in Skateboard Park in 2001, earned his fourth X Games medal (second bronze) with a Frontside No Slide, Backside Tailslide. The California native ended the day by pulling off the Fandango, which he said was his most difficult trick. "The course this year was fun to skate and really technical," said Koston. "This is the kind of course we really like to skate." The X Games showcases 300 of the world's best action sports athletes competing in a variety of sports events for medals and more than $1 million in total prize money. In its first year as X Games host, Philadelphia drew 235,000 spectators during X Games VII, August 17-22, 2001. ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports will combine to televise more than 20 original hours of X Games VIII coverage starting August 17, while ESPN International will distribute the Games worldwide. In addition, EXPN.com, the year-round home for action sports and culture, will offer extensive event coverage, including streaming video from the X Games.

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