Philadelphia, Penn. – Rodil de Araujo Jr., walks away with the Skateboard Street gold medal after completing a clean run that set him above the rest. Wagner Ramos finished with the silver and Kyle Berard was close behind for the bronze. All three turned in tremendous runs before a packed crowd at City Hall that totaled 8,600.

In the winning run by de Araujo, he used the entire course with big transfers and technical rail tricks and finished with a final score of 89.6. de Araujo, who is from Curitiba, Brazil, knows that the competition was high and the gold medal is a true honor.

"I'm happy because these are real street skaters and you get a log of respect by winning a contest like this one," said de Araujo.

de Araujo is no stranger to the medal podium. He captured the gold in Skateboard Park in 1996, 1997 and 2001.

Ramos, of Cascavel, Brazil, came in second turning in solid run with no falls. For his big trick, Ramos did a Nollie flip down the stairs, and the crowd loved it. Having never won a medal in X Games competition before, Ramos was thrilled with his final placement.

Rounding out the top three, Berard had a flawless run and he used the center rail for grinding, which became his signature trick of the afternoon. In previous X Games appearances, Berard's highest finish was fifth. The bronze medal earns him a place on the elite list of Street skaters.

"It was fun, I didn't watch anyone else's run because that makes me nervous," said Berard. "They changed the course a little from last year and added more stuff which made it really fun."

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.