LOS ANGELES (AP) – Sandro Dias closed his eyes and tipped back his head for a moment. After watching the last of the big names in Skateboard Vert fall to the ramp, he could finally relax.

Bucky Lasek, Bob Burnquist, Shaun White – none of them could match Dias’ first run and the Brazilian held on for his first Vert gold Thursday night on the opening day of the 12th X Games.

“I never felt like before because it was very special for me,” Dias said. “I’ve been trying for so many years working on this event and everything came together at the right time.”

Dias has been overshadowed by the big boys of the ramp for years despite consecutive world Vert titles in 2003-04 and pulling off a 900 in 2004 that earned him gold for best trick.

Wanting to prove he belongs with the elite Vert skaters, the 31-year-old put together the best run of his life, landing his trademark nar-jar – a backside 540 twist to tail – on his first run to take the lead at 87.50.

Then he had to hold on.

Burnquist, another Brazilian and the defending Vert Best Trick champ, had good runs going in the first and second rounds, but spilled on the same trick both times.

Dias also had a solid run going for the last round before falling, then had to watch as Lasek and White, the Olympic snowboard gold medalist made their final runs. Lasek, who ended up third, went down on a relatively simple trick and White missed a grab in the air, giving Dias the title he’s wanted the most.

Dias tried to take in the moment, but was quickly mobbed by his friends, who ended up dogpiling him. Dias then hugged a couple of family members for several minutes, squeezing them in a moment of sheer joy – one felt by his fellow competitors.

“It was cool to see that Sandro was the one to win the gold medal,” said Burnquist, who took silver with 84 points. “Sandro has a different type of skateboarding style — he’s powerful, he goes high, he spins. I was a switch-kick away from gold, but I’m happy to be in second behind my fellow Brazilian.”

Corey Bohan defended his title BMX Dirt last year by going from last to first on his final run. He took a different approach this year – with the same result.

The Australian nailed his first run, then held on through two more go-rounds to become the first BMX rider to win three straight golds in Dirt, a sport that requires riders to jump, flip and twist their bikes over a variety of gaps.

“There’s was a lot of pressure, but not compared last year, winning then having to prove yourself again,” Bohan said. “There was a little bit of pressure to get one good run under my belt, but it felt pretty good.”

Ryan Nyquist, of Greenville, N.C., took silver with 91.33 points, adding to his collection of X Games medals. That gives him a record eight Dirt medals and 13 overall – seven behind the all-time record of Dave Mirra, who’s out of this year’s event after lacerating his liver in a practice crash on Wednesday. Anthony Napolitan, a 19-year-old from Youngstown, Ohio, finished third in his first X Games with 90.33 points.

But none of them could match Bohan’s spectacular first run. Landing no-handed, one-footed tailwhip and a one-footed table 360, he scored 91.66 points on that opening run, plenty good enough in the best-of-three runs format.

“Only one run counts, so you want to make sure you nail that one run,” Bohan said. “The first run was exactly what I wanted to do, so I was able to mix it up a little on the other two and stay fresh.”

In women’s Skateboard Vert, the opening event at this year’s X Games, gold medalist Cara-Beth Burnside was anything but fresh.

Suffering from a severe migraine, she didn’t get out of bed until 2 p.m. and wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to compete. But with the help of silver medalist Mimi Knoop’s father, a doctor, Burnside’s symptoms dulled and she decided to at least give it a shot.

Though she still had trouble with the bright lights at Staples Center, Burnside kept from vomiting on the ramp and fed off the crowd to ride off with gold.

“I don’t even know how a I did it,” Burnside said. “I was throwing up all day and was really sick. Thanks to Mimi’s dad, he stopped me from throwing up. I couldn’t move.”

Perhaps just important as Burnside’s win was a meeting between some of the female skateboarders and ESPN executive vice president for content John Skipper on the eve of this year’s games.

Concerned by the afterthought-mentality the X Games were giving women, Burnside and Knoop – along with their agent – met with Skipper on Wednesday, working out a deal that would pay $15,000 for gold, $10,000 for silver and $5,000 for bronze for competitors in the women’s Vert and Street. The total purse for both events had been $8,000.

They also got ESPN to agree to show some of the women’s events on television next year.

“We had a very positive meeting and we listened to their feedback,” Skipper said in a statement. “Just as we have grown women’s sports in general and for Winter X, we plan to do so for Summer X.”

AP-ES-08-04-06 0009EDT