Living up to his reputation as the World's No. 1 ranked in-line skater, Orem, Utah's Jaren Grob pulled off a string of huge 900s, a 720 over the Pyramid and fakie grinds to earn his second straight gold medal with a 94.00 in the Aggressive In-Line Skate Park competition at the X Games this afternoon at the First Union Complex.

Grob's good friend Bruno Lowe, a native of Munich, Germany, landed a Backside Shuffle and some Flat Spin Transfers, finishing second with a 93.00. Australian Blake Dennis finished a distant third with an 84.75. "Bruno's my friend, but I couldn't watch his run. I was trying not to get too stoked so I talked to some fans to keep my mind off of my last run," Grob said. "I love the X Games and have been watching them since they began," "I'm happy the event is over because I was competing against my friend," Lowe said. "Jaren's a great friend of mine and all, but I didn't watch his run because I didn't want to make myself too nervous. I think I skated great, but I wasn't sure how I'd finish because I fell on my first run and it's hard to get going again. I don't think of my run as individual tricks, though. It's about the whole routine. It should just flow, which it did on my second run."

Dennis missed some tricks on his first run, but "on my second run I did well. It just felt right." Rookie Stephane Alfano, the Hard Core Brazilian, got the capacity crowd going when he launched into his routine by hitting a 1080 over the Spine and a 900 over the Funbox. 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.