On This Date in Sports August 29, 2004: The Grand Prix Priest Derails Marathon
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens draws to an end, with the Marathon being the game’s final event. The race is run over the same course run by Phillippides and used in the first modern Olympics in 1896. Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil appears to be close to victory when he is attacked by a protestor. The runner would recover but settled for a Bronze Medal as Stefano Baldini of Italy won the race, with American Meb Keflezighi getting the Silver Medal.
As with the first modern Olympics in 1896, the Marathon takes place over the legendary course run by Pheidippides from Marathon to Athens to proclaim victory over the Persians in Ancient Greece. Sometime around 490 BC, Greece was involved in a battle with the invading Persians who sought to concur the territory. After a long battle, the Greeks won, and a messenger was dispatched from Marathon to Athens to send the good news. Pheidippides ran the entire way from Marathon to Athens, approximately 26.2 miles and died giving the message with his last breath.
The story of Pheidippides’ run was the inspiration for the creation of the modern marathon run in the first Modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. The 2004 games were the first time the games returned to the birthplace of the ancient games, since the modern Olympics were first help in 1896. Marathon running would become popular after the game, as the fate of Pheidippides was avoided thanks to modern hydration techniques.
When the 2004 Summer Olympics began, there was some concern over a terrorist attack, as these were the first summer games after 9/11 and were being held in Greece a country that had been known for lax security in the past. The games would go on without a hitch as the final day brought out large crowds on the road from Marathon to Athens.
As the sun set on the course and the Olympics, Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil appeared to be on the way to winning a Gold Medal, when suddenly a man jumped out of the crowd and attacked the race leader with less than seven kilometers to run. The man who went after the race leader was Cornelius Horan, an Irish Priest who claimed he wanted to bring attention to the coming apocalypse. A local Greek spectator helped de Lima get freed, but the damage was done as Stefano Baldini of Italy went into the lead to take the Gold Medal, while American Meb Keflezighi took the Silver Medal. Vanderlei de Lima was able to hold off Jon Brown of Great Britain to take the Bronze Medal.
At the Closing Ceremonies, Vanderlei de Lima was honored for his sportsmanship, though Brazil would launch an appeal of the result, but was denied as Cornelius Horan was given a 12-month suspended sentence for the incident. Horan had interrupted several other events in Europe and had become nicknamed “The Grand Prix Priest”. De Lima would be honored to light the Olympic Cauldron in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.