Posted by aogSunday, 29 August 2004 at 16:26 TrackBack Ping URL

Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima had been leading the Olympic men’s marathon race before he was attacked by spectator four miles from the finish. I happened to see it live (She Who Is Perfect In All Ways likes sports). The attacker just jumped out of the crowd and ran straight in to Lima. It was very premeditated (although probably targeted at the leader rather than Lima himself). Luckily Lima noticed the attacker right before impact and was able to prepare a bit, otherwise it might well have been much worse.

A few things I noticed:

• The crowed was very helpful in separating Lima and his attacker and getting Lima back on the road.
• Based on some of the faces in the crowd, the attacker would seem to be lucky to still be intact. But I wouldn’t recommend visiting Brazil anytime in the next few years.
• Based on the final result, I doubt Lima would have won even without the attack. But he still deserved the extra medal for grace under pressure.
• Given the presence of the spectators, I don’t see what Olympic security could have done to prevent this. They did get to the attacker very quickly, which may have accounted for his lack of injury.