PRAGELATO, Italy – The colors of Italy’s flag streaked across the sky. The horde of Italian fans lingered, savoring one last moment of Olympic triumph.

In the middle of it all was Giorgio Di Centa, who won the last possible gold medal for the host country yesterday in the Olympics’ final cross country race. Di Centa beamed as he worked his way through the celebration, surrounded by eight police officers in an escort fit for a president.

What a way for Italy to end its Olympics! Di Centa used a powerful sprint through the final stretch of the 50km skate for Italy’s first individual gold in cross country skiing in 38 years. After his victory, sporting the Italian flag around his neck, Di Centa was asked to describe his race.

“Kilometer by kilometer?” he said with a grin.

The 33-year-old Di Centa finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 11.8 seconds, only eight-tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist Eugeni Dementiev of Russia – a wild ending to the longest and most grueling cross country competition.

Moments later, a handful of parachutists, trailing streaks of smoke in the red, white, and green of the Italian flag, dropped from the sunny sky in a vibrant tribute to Italy’s final gold.

“I usually finish second in World Cup races but today I performed really well and I achieved a fantastic victory, especially because we are Italy,” said Di Centa, a father of three daughters. “I had been thinking and planning the race for a long time.”

It was a second gold medal for Di Centa, also a member of Italy’s winning foursome in the 4×10 relay February 19.

Austria’s Mikhail Botwinov took the bronze, a positive ending for the embattled Austrian cross country skiers and biathletes who were subjects of a doping investigation by the Italian authorities and International Olympic Committee.

The Russian-born Botwinov was involved with banned Austrian coach Walter Mayer four years ago at the Salt Lake City Olympics, where Botwinov won silver in the 30km.

The top 20 skiers were within 7 seconds of each other heading into the final 10 kilometers. About 40 skiers in the 82-man field were part of the leading pack by the midway point in the mass-start race.

World Cup leader Tobias Angerer finished 24th. American Carl Swenson, 35, did not finish after starting despite a head cold leading up to the race. He trained Saturday and decided to give it a go in his third and final Olympics. Andrew Johnson was the top U.S. finisher at 34th.