Australia’s Jackson Strong realised a long-held dream of X Games gold with victory in the Best Trick category at the Los Angeles Staples Centre today.

The 19-year-old landed a perfect front flip his opening run, the first in the history of X Games, earning a 95.64 score from the judging panel.

A second run wasn’t needed for the competition’s youngest participant, and all that was left was to stand atop the dirt mound and soak up the applause.

Strong narrowly held off fellow countrymen Cameron Sinclair and Josh Sheehan who rounded out an all-Australian podium.

“This is a dream come true, to me it is like winning a gold medal at the Olympics,” said Strong.

“I had to put everything on the line knowing that the other guys would be tough to beat. The Aussies were on form tonight and I’m proud to be able to stand with them on the podium.

“This is redemption for me after my crash last year. I kept at it and trained so hard for this so it is an amazing feeling to finally take home the gold.”

Strong’s successful landing of the front flip is a first for any competition in the world. Many have tried but he is the first to succeed and can now savour the gold medal as the highlight of his career thus far.

The Best Whip contest was won by Jeremy ‘Twitch’ Stenberg over Todd Potter, while Aussie Jarryd McNeil took out the bronze medal.