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Current mood: unpatriotic

Category: News and Politics


Olympic Speedskating News

Italy's Fabris wins Olympic gold in 1,500-meter speedskating
By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer


TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Skating in front of a rabid home crowd, Enrico Fabris of Italy won the gold medal in men's 1,500-meter speedskating Tuesday, dropping American rivals Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick to silver and bronze.

Fabris posted a time of 1 minute, 45.97 seconds, then waited anxiously to see if any of the remaining four pairs could better him on the slow ice.

Davis, the former world record holder, went in the final pair, knowing full well the time he had to beat. He finished in 1:46.13.

Hedrick skated in the next-to-last pair, covering 3 3/4 laps in 1:46.22, going much slower on his last lap than Fabris. The Texan, who holds the world record, knew he wasn't going to win when he crossed the line, shaking his head.

The Italian broke up the American hold on gold medals at these games, becoming the first non-U.S. skater to win one in an individual race. It was Fabris' second gold, having helped the Italians win the team pursuit. He also won bronze in the 5,000.
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After all the ugly hype leading up to the event, it's fitting that neither American won gold.

Poetic just ice? It was just a race, for crap's sake.

The moral of the story is "don't count your chickens before they come home to roost."


(Deeplip)