TURIN, Italy - If ever an Olympic champion prepared for years in anonymity, Enrico Fabris fits the bill. In a country of soccer, cycling and little else, he was even willing to call journalists himself to get a mention on the inside pages of Italy's sports papers.

Now, after his second gold medal in speedskating to add to a bronze, it is tough to keep this lanky policeman off the front page of the pink, venerated Gazzetto Dello Sport.

Such was his unlikely run that - even after bronze in the 5,000 and gold in the team pursuit - pre-race favorite Chad Hedrick overlooked his opponent in the 1,500, bent on centering all on his bitter rivalry with Shani Davis.

That is all in the past now. As bold comparisons go, the great Alberto Tomba was the last Italian double gold medal winner at an Olympics, dating back to 1988.

Despite all the pre-race hoopla about Chad and Shani, Turin organizing chief Valentino Castellani was confident the elegant skater in Azzurri blue would come through again.

With clenched teeth and determination creasing his brow, Fabris rode his trademark finishing kick, was lifted by a delirious crowd, and surged over the last 500 meters to set a time no one could match.

"It is the best thing that I could have expected," Fabris said. Now, he has two gold. Hedrick, who came into Turin confidently blazing for five to match Eric Heiden, has just one.

Hedrick had boldly predicted no one could beat him on the last lap. Fabris said nothing but made the difference by crushing the American by a whopping .99 seconds on the last loop.

"I started quite slow and the other skaters after me started very fast. You have to keep some strength for the final lap. So I did it," Fabris said. "I showed I had trained a lot," he said.

Fabris held his head in disbelief when the time of the last challenger, Davis, flashed on the screen, and it remained outside his top time. Thousands of fans roared with delight because of the upset and the Italian tricolor waved from all corners. "En-ri-co!" mixed freely with "I-tal-ia!" as the home crowd cheered its new hero.

Teenage girls quickly fell for his golden charm - brown locks nonchalantly spilling over his forehead, a cleft chin and high cheekbones highlighting an elongated face.

Journalists said Fabris started crying when Italy's Stefano Baldini won the marathon in Athens two years ago. At that point, he knew it was time to train for gold in Turin. A first sign of promise came in Hamar, Norway, where he became European all-around champion, last month.

It paid off especially on the slow ice of Oval Lingotto, where skills in the corners were a premium and the final effort made all the difference.

With four golds, Italy now has more victories than such traditional Winter Games nations as Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

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