Men's Marathon: Spectator Constrains Leader

[hifive]

The Brazilian leader was constrained by a specator who ran out and held him. The Brazilian was pushed out into the crowd which delayed him and cost him a good bit of his lead. Specators around this was able to free the Brazilian and contain the culprit.

That's just horrendous. If the Brazilian doesn't win, I will be ****ed. I truly hope he wins. The security for this was not good. It wasn't even a cop who seperated them, but another bystander. I wanted to kill the protestor.

Horrible.

[Chad.C]

Did this happen in the Olympics..??

Source ??

[hifive]

Yes, the Olympics.

It's live right now and was shown on NBC.

EDIT

****. The Brazilian is now in 3rd place. I really feel sorry for him. He might have been injured and was definitly emotionally stirred, not to mention breaking his rythm during the ordeal. I hope the protestor gets his genitals cut off then forced to eat them.

[cyoung1616]

I've been watching also and that was like WTF was that. I've never seen that before in an Olympic race. That Sucks.

Cody

He had over a 45 sec lead before that happened

[hifive]

Btw, this is featured on nbcolympics front page.

[Lurchybaby]

The Brazilian leader was constrained by a specator who ran out and held him. The Brazilian was pushed out into the crowd which delayed him and cost him a good bit of his lead. Specators around this was able to free the Brazilian and contain the culprit.

That's just horrendous. If the Brazilian doesn't win, I will be ****ed. I truly hope he wins. The security for this was not good. It wasn't even a cop who seperated them, but another bystander. I wanted to kill the protestor.

Horrible.

To have security line the entire 26.2 mile course would be a tad difficult, to say the least; at least enough security that would be able to stop one guy from running out onto the course.

needless to say, this will be the new "olympic controversy" to replace the mens gymnastic's controversy

[dpanda]

that brazilian guy is lima. just saw it. they are gonna decided now who's gonna take it.

whats interesting is the italians and brazilians are still at a volleyball match.

[hifive]

Of course they won't be able to line the entire course. But, imo, it wouldn't be hard to have enough staff on hand to stop people from running out into the runners. I mean, the specator ran across the street to get to the Brazilian. He wasn't even on the same side of the street.

[dpanda]

Of course they won't be able to line the entire course. But, imo, it wouldn't be hard to have enough staff on hand to stop people from running out into the runners. I mean, the specator ran across the street to get to the Brazilian. He wasn't even on the same side of the street.

it happens. nobody expected anyone to run in. just like nobody expected someone to run in during the euro finals and threw the barcelona flag at figo. that was a great moment imo.

[hifive]

I wonder who the spectator was though. It would be even worse if he was Italien.

[Mizuian]

This was not fair on the runner... I watched it happen and I was shocked that someone would do that!

[thop]

The spectator had sth. with Israel written on his back, don't know if pro Israel or against. He was from Ireland and very drunk. I think the Italian would've won anyway though. Ok just found that the back said Israel and sth. about a fulfillment of the prophecy.

[hifive]

Link

The intruder had a piece of paper attached to his back bearing the message: "The Grand Prix Priest Israel Fulfillment of Prophecy Says the Bible."

Police identified him as Cornelius Horan, an Irish citizen. In July 2003, Horan, in a costume similar to Sunday's, 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."

This guy should not be allowed to attend any specator sports ever again.

Yeah, now I also think the Italien would have won anyways, but still, this should have never happened.

[thop]

I hope that guy gets arrested, what a ****ing idiot! It appears he's some religious nut!

This guy should not be allowed to attend any specator sports ever again.

Amen. And i think some weeks in a mental institute wouldn't hurt either!

[Powa]

That dude needs a good bashing with that bible which might knock some sense into him

[ozgeek]

Oh god. I missed that part. I did watch the whole thing. I was on the net reading Neowin as they raced on my tv next to me. But now it's the closing ceremony showing now.

[valhalla_rk]

There was a good chance that if the ugly spactator wasn't pushed aside De Lima (the Brazilian), He was winning the Marathon

Edited August 29, 2004 by valhalla_rk

[LegoNinja]

It's the same defrocked priest who ran out into the middle of the British Grand Prix last year. Full story:

Defrocked priest attacks marathon leader, who finishes third

What does it take to have some's passport revoked in Ireland?

[ootput]

What does it take to have some's passport revoked in Ireland?

(Y)

[mattmatik]

I just saw the replay, there was a cop following him on a bicycle. They should have pounded that dude into the ground.

[Ayepecks]

it happens. nobody expected anyone to run in. just like nobody expected someone to run in during the euro finals and threw the barcelona flag at figo. that was a great moment imo.

Um, no, it doesn't just happen. Tell me a time previously in the Olympics when that happened. It's not like the Tour De France where there are millions upon millions of people lining the streets. There are thousands, but they are much more spread out. To say that it's impossible to have police escorts for the first 10 or so leaders of the race is asinine and untrue. Is it possible that they wouldn't be able to stop someone? Possible. But they would've stopped that guy.

EDIT: Edited last part.

Edited August 29, 2004 by Scorpio

[Notsnarc]

wow, this guy so ****es me off

I'm surpised the Brazil guy took it as well as he seems to have, I would've been so ****ed off at him

btw, I just heard off the television

that this guy also jumped out onto a race track with cars going 200 mph's, barely being able to avoid him

[Lenin]

What an idiot

[Notsnarc]

here's some quote's from the brazilian runner

sounds like he is gonna have the bronze, poor guy, but at least he still medaled

"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," Lima said. "That's what cost me the gold medal."

The Brazilian track federation protested the result and sought a duplicate gold medal for Lima, but the appeal was rejected.

"I'm not going to cry forever about the incident, although it broke my concentration," Lima said, "but I managed to finish and the bronze medal in such a difficult marathon is also a great achievement."

from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olym...r.ap/index.html

I think I will feel better if this guy just had a problem with Brazil, rather then simply taking out the lead runner to get attention

judging from what I've read about the guy's past, he belongs in a mental instution

[Ayepecks]

It wasn't Brazil he had a problem with... he was just being a religious fundamentalist, basically. Whoever was in the front was going to get mugged by him, chances are.

Just sucks that it happened to him. He seems like a quality guy, though, from the quotes. Very professional to not start bitching and moaning over the matter.

If anyone thinks that this guy didn't have an impact on Lima, they're crazy and have obviously never ran any sort of distance before. IMHO, Lima would have cruised to an easy victory had he not been interrupted and had his rythm ruined. It's EXTREMELY hard to get your rythm back when you have no one to pace you (like him, since he was leading by a huge margin).