SAN FRANCISCO -- It must be the year of the 15-year-olds. Travis Pastrana won a gold medal. So did Maeghan Major. Thursday, it was Nicky Adams who beat the veterans and walked away with an X Games gold in the Men's Aggressive In-line Skating Street competition at Piers 30 and 32.

Newcomer Adams, from Montreal, Canada, scored a 76.50 in the second run to surpass Blake Dennis (Sydney, Australia) and win the title. Dennis won the silver with a 76.25 score while Aaron Feinberg (Portland, Ore.), the only American skater in the final round, captured the bronze medal, scoring a 75.75.

"I just don't know what to say, I'm so stunned," said Adams, who is the youngest to win an X Games gold in the discipline. "Everybody was telling me I could do it. I can't believe I am in first place at the X Games."

Adams, with energetic and clean runs, tossed out all the tricks in his bag, except his signature move, a bio 900 flip, he used recently to win $10,000 at a Best Trick Competition. He didn't need to attempt it, his stuff on Thursday was good enough to win. Adams did a huge 720 over the box, two soul grinds and royales to pump up the crowd and please the judges.

Adams also accomplished his personal goal to beat Feinberg, a two-time medalist and 1997 winner, in competition.

"It's something I've wanted to do for a real long time and I did it," Adams said. "I can't believe it, it's really cool."

Adams became the fourth 15-year-old X Games athlete to win gold this week. Pastrana took the Freestyle Moto X title on Tuesday and Major won the title in women's Wakeboarding on Wednesday. Two other 15-year-olds, Emily Copeland in Wakeboarding and Jenny Curry in Aggressive In-Line Skating, finished second in their events.

Thursday's attendance at The Pier was 15,434, bringing the total to 222,886 in seven days of competition. The 1998 X Games in San Diego drew 242,850.

Yasutoko flips his way to gold in In-line halfpipe
Yasutoko, another 15-year-old, wins In-line Vert Eito Yasutoko of Osaka, Japan, continued the run for the youth movement at this year's X Games as he became the fourth 15-year-old to win a gold.

Yasutoko defeated defending champion Cesar Mora (Sydney, Australia), with two incredible runs. His second run, with a score of 81.00, included 720 flat spins and soul grinds from the vert extension jump down to another grind to the lower deck. Matt Salerno, also of Sydney, placed third to pick up the bronze.

Mora pulled off a 1080, rotating his body three times around in the air, and flew 8-foot-4 on the max-air measurement for the silver at 77.50.

Salerno, who also placed fourth on the street course earlier in the day, had enough energy left to pull off a low 1080 in a more consistent second run for a score of 75.00.

Yabe wins gold in Women's Aggressive In-line Skating Street
Japanese skater Sayaka Yabe out-skated the popular Fabiola da Silva and last year's winner Jenny Curry to win the gold medal in the Women's Aggressive In-line Skating competition.

Kelly Matthews (Hoboken, N.J.) finished second and Curry (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) placed third.

Yabe, the 23-year-old Japanese Champion, won the title at the 1997 X Games and finished third last summer in San Diego.

"This is my third (medal), I am very excited," said Yabe.

"I practice on Wednesdays and Fridays in the park near my office," said Yabe, who is one of the few skaters who actually works a full-time job. It's hard to bring my skates with me in the morning to the office because the train is so crowded."

For Matthews, she attained what she set out to achieve.

"I was out to have fun and that's what I accomplished, so that's what I'm happy about," Matthews said.

The X Games are taking place at Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco from June 25 through July 3. The Games will bring more than 400 of the world's best alternative sport athletes, who will compete for nearly $1 million in prize money, to the Bay Area. For the 1999 X Games, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will combine to televise 28.5 hours of original programming (June 27-July 5). ESPN International will distribute the event to a global audience, and ESPN.com will also provide extensive on-line coverage.