Men's 1500 speedskating: Fabris is Gold, Americans take silver, bronze

By Ryan T. Blystone
World of Wonder Staff Writer-Editor

TORINO, Italy -- Enrico Fabris began these Olympics by giving his home country a reason to smile with a bronze medal in the 5,000 meters, his debut speedskating event. He then helped Italy to gold in the Team Pursuit event a few days later. On Tuesday night, in front of the packed Oval Lingotto stadium, Fabris put his permanent, personal stamp on these Torino Games with a gold medal victory in the men's 1,500 meters event.[ep

His time of 1 minute, 45.97 seconds wasn't enough to set a world or Olympic record marks set by Americans Chad Hedrick (1:42.78 set in Nov. 2005) and Derek Parra (1:43.95 set at the 2002 Olympics), respectively, but Fabris finished ahead of both of those skaters as well as another American, Shani Davis, who settled for silver in a time of 1:46.13.[ep

Hedrick, with a 1:46.22, earned bronze in the event he entered as the United States' top qualifier. Parra, meanwhile, the 2002 gold medalist in this event, did not threaten at all, turning in a disappointing 1:48.54 time for 19th place out of 41 skaters in what was likely the final Olympics for the 35-year-old athlete from San Bernardino.[ep

But the spotlight, despite the usual roar coming from the pro-Dutch fans, was shining brightly on the 24-year-old Fabris.[ep

One older Italian fan entered the venue nearly two hours ahead of the scheduled start time to express his support for the young Italian with a small fold-out sign with Italy's colors and Enrico Fabris' name written inbig, bold letters. It's a sure sign that Italians everywhere are falling in love with their new Olympic hero.[ep

Fans had to wait through 16 other pairings before the lanky Fabris and his competitor, Simon Kuipers of the Netherlands, took to the starting line, but it was worth the wait for each skater. Fabris' time propelled him to the top of the pack, bumping Russian Ivan Skobrev (he was in the 14th pairing). Kuipers, feeding off Fabris' performance, moved into second place with his mark of 1:46.58.[ep

Fabris and Kuipers held their positions after two more groups came and went, including one with Parra, who was in the 19th pairing with Canada's Steven Elm (he finished in 1:48.09).[ep

Hedrick, however, turned in a time good enough to move into second place, pushing Kuipers to third with only the pairing of Davis and Russia's Aleksandr Kibalko remaining.[ep

Davis had already won a gold medal in the 1,000 meters race and irked some within the U.S. speedskating team for his comments about wanting to focus on his individual events rather than participate in the Team Pursuit (which the U.S. failed to pass the quarterfinal round). He and Kibalko were now feeling the pressure of being the last pair as they false started and had to line up a second time.[ep

It proved to be worth it for Davis, who kept himself among the United States' top athletes of these Winter Olympics. Hedrick, who won a gold medal in the 5,000, also has two medals with a shot at a third on Friday in the 10,000 meters.[ep

But Tuesday night, and perhaps, from now on, it is the young Fabris who has captured Italy's hearts.[ep

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