Should the Brazillian Marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima be given a gold medal?
Also the South Korean gymnast who was burned by the score keepers?
Marathon story below:
Cornelius Horan, right, a defrocked Irish priest, grabs Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil as he leads the men's marathon Sunday. Lima was delayed several seconds by the attack and appeared to have been injured. He finished third.
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:36 p.m. ET Aug. 29, 2004ATHENS, Greece - Stafano Baldini of Italy took the lead two miles from the finish to win the gold medal and American Meb Keflezighi took a surprising silver Sunday in an Olympic marathon disrupted by a costumed intruder who grabbed the race leader with about three miles to go.
Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil, whose lead had been slowly shrinking, was pushed to the curb by a man dressed in green beret, red kilt and knee-high green socks. De Lima was able to get back into the race, but he appeared to have been injured in the incident. He lost several more seconds and eventually was overtaken by Baldini and Keflezighi.
De Lima, who took the bronze, drew big cheers from the crowd at the finish line in Panthinaiko Stadium — the beautiful marble structure that was the site of the first Olympics of the modern era 108 years ago. He smiled broadly, spread his arms like wings and weaved from side to side as he crossed the line.
Baldini, 33, finished in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 54 seconds. He waved his hands in celebration, then dropped to his knees in exhaustion after his final lap on the narrow track inside the stadium. Baldini is the former European marathon champion and two-time world marathon silver medalist.
De Lima pulled away from the pack a little over halfway through the competition, which — over difficult and often steep terrain — traced the ancient route that gives the race its name.
De Lima, a two-time Pan American champion who was 47th in the 1996 Olympic marathon, stretched the lead to as much as 46 seconds before Baldini, Keflezighi, and Kenyan Paul Tergat began to narrow the gap.
Should de Lima be awarded a gold medal?
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Would Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima have won the Olympic marathon if he hadn't been attacked by a fan? * 25950 responses
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Should de Lima be awarded a gold medal? * 27124 responses
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Not a scientifically valid survey. As the runners went through the streets of Athens, to the cheers of flag-waving onlookers, the intruder came from the runner’s left and pushed him to the side, all the way to the curb and into the crowd. It appeard that spectators freed Lima before police arrived and took the intruder into custody.
The intruder had a piece of paper attached to his back bearing a message that included Biblical references.
Police identified him as Cornelius Horan, a defrocked Irish priest. In July 2003, Horan, in a costume similar to the one he wore Sunday, ran onto the track at the British Grand Prix in the middle of the race and stayed there for more than 20 seconds, forcing racers to swerve around him. He was carrying a sign that said, “read the Bible — the Bible is always right.â€
The Brazilian track federation protested the result and sought a duplicate gold medal for Lima, but the appeal was rejected. De Lima said he would have won the race if he hadn’t been attacked.
“I was scared, because I didn’t know what could happen to me, whether he was armed with a knife, a revolver, or something and whether he was going to kill me,†de Lima said after the race. “That’s what cost me the gold medal.â€
Horan pleaded guilty in England to running onto the race track during the British Grand Prix in an attempt to disrupt that Formula One race.
Roberto Gesta de Melo, head of the Brazilian track federation and a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations council, filed a handwritten appeal on behalf of Lima.
“Someone took him out the race and we are asking for a gold medal for our athlete,†de Melo said. “Solutions like that have been done in the past for other events.â€
Nick Laham / Getty Images
A man identified as Cornelius Horan is led away by authorities after attacking Vanderlei de Lima during the men's marathon.
But the International Association of Athletics Federations said that while it regretted the incident, “the final results can unfortunately not be changed.â€
“I think the Olympic spirit prevailed and I prevailed. I was able to show that determination wins races,†de Lima said after receiving his bronze. “Never mind the result of the appeal,†he said. “I’m very happy to have won this medal.â€
De Lima will be presented with a Pierre de Coubertin Medal, named after the founder of the modern Olympics in recognition of his “exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values,†the IOC said.
“It was a very difficult incident because I was very concentrated, knowing I was going to win, and it cut my rhythm,†de Lima said. But he added: “I managed to finish, and the bronze medal in such a difficult marathon is also a great achievement.â€
The police sources said Horan arrived in Athens just before dawn Sunday aboard a British Airways flight. They said Horan apparently acted believing that Christian Judgment Day was coming.
Horan would be taken to a prosecutor on Monday, the sources said. It was unclear if he would be charged or remanded for psychiatric evaluation.
Keflezighi ran a personal-best 2:11.29, 34 seconds behind Baldini. De Lima finished in 2:12.11.
