Stillwater X Games star Nicole Hause is caught up in 11-year-old's board flair

Nicole Hause was in awe like the rest of the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd Friday night when 11-year-old Sky Brown made X Games history by becoming the first female to land a Frontside 540.

Hause had barely learned to skateboard at that age growing up in Stillwater.

"I'm almost double her age," said Hause, who fell short of advancing past the Skateboard Park semifinals Friday. "This is crazy. They are so much better than me when I was 11."

Brown was a fan favorite after her trick, but she was unable to medal. Japan finished with the gold and silver medals in the Women's Skateboard Park, with 13-year-old Misugu Okamoto beating 10-year-old Cocona Hiraki, who became the youngest female competitor and medal winner in X Games history.

"The times are really changing," Hause said. "It's just getting younger and younger. I honestly think we'll see a 9-year-old at some point."

Friday's finals in Minneapolis likely resembled what Hause would see when skateboarding makes its debut in the 2020 Olympics. Hause is a member of the U.S. skateboarding team, but she only got back three weeks ago from a serious knee injury that has her still working toward regaining her top form.

She competed in her fourth consecutive X Games in Minneapolis this week, placing as high as fourth in 2017. Hause had 150 friends and family in her cheering section.

Her next big event will be the World Park Skateboarding Championships in Brazil in September.

"After this I'm going home [to Oceanside, Calif.] and I'm getting my system going and learning some tricks," she said. "I definitely had a lot to learn and a lot to do."

Rochester native Alec Majerus, who is competing in his sixth consecutive X Games, will get only one more chance to medal in front of his home-state crowd. The 24-year-old Majerus, who finished second in 2017 in Minneapolis, fell in the elimination round of Skateboard Street competition Friday after finishing 12th with a score of 72.66. The top seven advanced to Saturday's final, which includes three-time defending champion Nyjah Huston.

Majerus will compete in his last event at 12:15 p.m. Sunday, in the Skateboard Street Best Trick.

"It definitely puts a little bit more pressure on it with all of my [family] and friends here," Majerus said. "It just want to do well in front of them. I broke my foot a year ago, and that kind of set me back a lot. I'm just trying to skate a bunch and get my consistency back."

Australia had a strong showing late Friday evening winning back-to-back-to-back events with Corey Creed (Moto X Quarterpipe), Ryan Williams (BMX Big Air) and Rob Adelberg (Moto X Freestyle).

Williams became the first X Games rider to do a backflip into the Big Air ramp, claiming it was his first ever attempt at the trick. He went from finishing sixth place as a rookie in X Games Minneapolis last year to his third straight gold medal Friday. Adelberg won his fifth X Games medal this year, which matched his record-setting feat in a calendar year in 2018.

"We are unable to go to the Olympics," Adelberg said this week, "So for us, this is the Olympics of freestyle motocross."-