SAN FRANCISCO -- Chris Sharma, in his fourth year of X Games competition, finally struck gold. All he needed was a few boulders to get in the way of his competition.

Sharma, 18, handled won the first-ever men's sport climbing bouldering competition on Monday. His previous best was a bronze medal finish at the 1997 X Games on the difficulty wall.

	Yuji Hirayama makes his way up the boulder Monday. Hirayama just missed a medal, finishing fourth.

Sharma, the youngest competitor to advance to the finals, was the only climber to reach the peak on three different routes, finishing with a score of 92.18. Francois Petit and Stephane Julien took home the silver and bronze medals.

"It's fun here with everyone cheering you on," Sharma said. "You can be the strongest person in the world, but if you don't have the mindset, you won't win. I had a shift in attitude on the third problem, and that made the difference."

Sharma is on a roll. He has now won five consecutive major climbing competitions, including the Boulderding Championship at the Rockreation Boulderblast in Salt Lake City earlier this year.

He did not compete in the 1998 X Games in San Diego due to a torn ACL that forced him to sit out most of the 1998 season. He has only competed twice in the last 18 months.

French connection secures top medals in Bouldering
Stephanie Bodet took home her first X Games medal on Monday, winning the gold in the women's sport climbing bouldering competition. She was the only competitor to reach the peak on three of the four routes, finishing with a score of 97.50.

The course was altered overnight after five women successfully ascended each of the four courses. More than half of the field did not make it to the top of any of the walls Monday.

Liv Sansonz sought medical attention to her knee on the third problem, but still finished second (81.54) and Elena Choumilova took home the bronze (71.45).

Three-time X Games gold medalist in difficulting climbing, Katie Brown, slipped to fifth place in the bouldering. She was one of the five women to successfully reach the top of all four problems on Sunday.

Moto X riders injured in practice
Moto X riders Mike Metzger and Carey Hart will not be in action when Moto X makes its X Games debut Tuesday. Both riders suffered injuries during Monday morning's practice session and will be unable to compete in the finals on Tuesday night.

Metzger suffered a possible torn ACL in his right leg.

More than 20,000 back on The Pier
After an overcrowding weekend at The Pier, 21,813 turned out to see the fourth day of competition at the X Games.

Monday's crowd brought the four-day total to 160,448. Saturday, 58,000 extreme sports fans packed two X Games venues and nearly 50,000 were in attendance on Sunday.

ESPN X Game's research contributed to this report.