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Paul Rodriguez Street Skate Finals/Credit: Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Los Angeles, Calif. – Paul Rodriguez {lastly} got the monkey off his back. {Following} becoming the {first} skateboarder ever to win back-to-back gold in the X Games Skateboarding Street contest in 2005, P-Rod failed to podium for the following two years and was held to second {^hk3^} {final} year by X Games 14 gold medal winner, Ryan Sheckler. All that changed {these days}, with his commanding win in the Skateboard Street Finals.

In the Skateboarding Street {competition}, {each} skater gets {10} attempts per session to land tricks on a {particular} set of street {^hk10^}. The {} {3} scores from {each} session get added to their {overall} score. Rodriguez unleashed a flurry of switch tricks early on that earned him {} scores, and had him {} the pack going into the third session. {Sadly}, the final set of street {^hk10^}, consisting of two steep banks and a 12-step staircase, seemed to {cause} {problems} for {almost} all the competitors, {including} P-Rod.

Nick Dompierre Street Skate Finals/Credit: Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Going into the final attempts of the third session, Rodriguez had failed to land {firsthk45^^} than two solid tricks. Fourteen-year-old Nyjah Huston pulled a kickflip back lipslide on the rail on his ninth {attempt}, {placing} him into the lead, but in the final moments he nailed a switch heelflip down the stairs, that propelled him into {first} and the gold.

“It’s like an itch that {lastly} got scratched. {It is} been {four} years [since I won Gold],” Rodriguez {^hk3^}, adding with a nod towards second {^hk3^} finisher Huston, “It’s {^hk3{2}^} to know that I can {^hk33^} hang with these youngsters.”

Adam Dyet, who skated and crashed equally as {^hk3{4}^} {^hk3{5}^} the contest, was in fourth going into his {final} run, but a nollie {^hk37^} cab down the stair set earned him high scores, pushing Rodolfo Ramos out of medal contention just as the session came to a close.

Adam Dyet Street Skate Finals/Credit: Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Sheckler, whose {first} {^hk3^} standing from {final} year prequalified him for the finals {these days}, skated the contest with an injured back. {Following} {finalhk45^^} falls in the {first} session, he seemed to be warming up going into the second session, landing a switch heelflip and a nollie heelflip backside 180 down the {3}-flat-{four} staircase. A bail on the 8^th of his {10} allotted trick attempts left him visibly shaken, and a {^hk3{4}^} fall on his {final} {attempt} {brought on} him to roll his ankle. He did not move on to the third session.

Coverage of all X Games events can be {found} on www.xgames.com. Story Courtesy espn.com