Marathon attack victim wants gold

Published on Tuesday 5 October 2004 00:12

WORLD sport’s highest court has received an appeal from Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima and his country’s Olympic committee, requesting that the athlete be awarded a gold medal.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said yesterday that it had received De Lima’s complaint. De Lima was leading the marathon at the Athens Olympics when he was tackled by kilted former Irish priest Cornelius "Neil" Horan, who also disrupted last year’s British Grand Prix. De Lima was held for a number of seconds until breaking free and continuing the race. He eventually finished in third place.

His plight garnered widespread sympathy and, at the medal ceremony, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge awarded the athlete the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for his demonstration of fair play and Olympic values.

Now De Lima wants to be awarded a gold medal in order to "remedy the damages he suffered," but the appeal stressed that other competitors should keep their medals, said CAS in a statement.

That would mean Italy’s Stefano Baldini would keep his gold medal and American Mebrahtom Keflezighi the silver.

The CAS did not say when the case would be heard, but noted that it normally rules within four months of an appeal being filed.