Talon Posted August 29, 2004 #1 Share Posted August 29, 2004 ATHENS RUNNER ATTACKED An athlete leading the men's marathon in Athens with five kilometres to go has been attacked by a spectator. Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil was pushed off the road by the man. He got back on his feet but was clearly shaken, throwing up his arms in despair as he returned to the course. He soon lost the lead to Italian Stefano Baldini who won the race in 2 hours 10 minutes 55 seconds. De Lima made third place. Britain's Jon Brown was fourth, 15 seconds behind the Brazilian. As well as the bronze, which was awarded during the closing ceremony, De Lima also received a special `De Coubertin' award for fair play for the sporting way he handled the incident. A spectator was arrested and taken to a police station. He was named by police as Irishman Cornelius Horan. Horan, a 47-year old former Catholic priest, also disrupted the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last year. A police spokeswoman said: "We asked him why he did this. He said he is preparing for the Second Coming and other such things like that." Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted August 29, 2004 Author #2 Share Posted August 29, 2004 IOC BOSS PRAISES GAMES Olympic supremo Jacques Rogge has given top marks to Athens for the Olympic Games. He said the facilities and accomodation were superb, and security had been "flawless". "I am an extremely happy President of the IOC," he told reporters on the last day of competition. "They really did a fantastic job. I am very, very happy about the Games." Reviewing every aspect of the fortnight, he awarded gold medals for the best ever athletes village. He said television producers were ecstatic about ratings, which were up about 15 per cent on Sydney. "Security has been flawless," he said of the £700m operation to protect the Athens Games. He added that ticket sales had topped the figures from Seoul and Barcelona -a major achievement for a country of just 10 million people. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AztecInca Posted August 30, 2004 #3 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I thought that the olympics went well and not only met but went above our expectations, although the last couple of days weren`t as good with that violent protest and than the runner being attacked but in the end, it was a good olympic games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me_Again Posted August 30, 2004 #4 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Must have been what my dream was about Glad the bomb didn't go off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunarmdscissor Posted August 30, 2004 #5 Share Posted August 30, 2004 It was shocking i thought the guy was gonna get stabbed or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AztecInca Posted August 30, 2004 #6 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I just saw a replay of that brazilian runner getting grabbed by that 50 year old irish pest who has been going around to all sorts of sporting events and interfering. The brazilian runner was cost gold, and had to settle for bronze, because his rythm was upset and as someone who has done athletics for a long time, I know how hard it is to keep running and running well if your rythm is disturbed. He was such a good sport and fittingly got an award for such good sportsmanship. He desreves a replica gold though, but it would never be the same. I hope that irish pest is thrown in jail for awile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted August 30, 2004 Author #7 Share Posted August 30, 2004 MARATHON MAN IN COURT A former Catholic priest has been given a 12-month suspended sentence for disrupting the men's marathon at the Athens Olympics yesterday. Cornelius Horan, an Irishman who lives in London, was released from custody after his court appearance. The 57-year-old dashed across the road during the marathon and forced the race frontrunner into the spectators at the side. Brazilian Vanderlei De Lima was leading by around 40 seconds when the incident occurred, just three miles from the finish. He managed to resume the race but finished in the bronze position after being overtaken by two other runners. The Brazilian Olympic Committee has put in an official complaint to the Greek organisers. Horan, originally from Kerry, told police he staged the disruption to "prepare for the second coming". He also disrupted last year's Silverstone Formula One Grand Prix by dashing across the track. Greek police said he had mental problems. "He is not very well," said a spokesman. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seventh_son Posted August 30, 2004 #8 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I think under the circumstances he should be awarded a gold medal also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted August 30, 2004 #9 Share Posted August 30, 2004 I saw this on the tube and this made me so mad.....I would have tackled that guy! That poor runner ...he should have been awarded the gold. What is this, a priest?...Yeah, he has some serious problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted August 31, 2004 #10 Share Posted August 31, 2004 heh if i was the runner i would have gone crazy and decked the guy i wish the stupid madman had tried this stunt on a boxer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velikovsky Posted August 31, 2004 #11 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Horan, originally from Kerry, told police he staged the disruption to "prepare for the second coming". Everybody let's all go prepare for the second coming. Find a Brazilian and push em. I'm going right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIrishVampiress Posted September 4, 2004 #12 Share Posted September 4, 2004 some more info on the subject PRIEST PLANNED OLYMPICS FIASCO FOR SIX WEEKS THE SCARTAGLIN-BORN priest responsible for the Olympics upset on Sunday admitted yesterday that he lost control of himself in Athens, and that he cost Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima a gold medal. London-based Fr Neil Horan, whose family runs a successful fruit and veg shops in Kerry, told Kerry's Eye he had been planning for six weeks to disrupt the marathon, the final event of the Olympics 2004. Now he says he would like to go to Brazil to apologize personally to De Lima. Fr Horan (57), declined to rule out futher "controversial action" to preach his message, but pledged never to strike at Croke Park or at any other major sporting occasion. "Some of the burning Kerry supporters in west Kerry would probably lynch me", he joked. (oh, yes we would! ) Speaking to Kerry's Eye from his home in London, the controversial cleric admitted that his actions had caused great upset to his family in Kerry. But he said he would go on proclaiming the Gospel 'in different ways'. Asked when he planned to visit home again, he said: "Maybe I wouldn't be exactly welcome in Kerry at the moment." (no, you certainly wouldn't.. ) He expressed regret Wednesday for depriving the Brazilian of a gold medal, particularly since his origins were amoung the landless people. "I felt very bad about going so far," he said. "I cant deny that I used aggression against this man who looked so tiny - he looked like a child. "I feel a deep hurt myself for going so far, and having knocked him over. I certainly didn't mean to do that. "The overall sense of occasion got to me," he said. "It's safe to say I lost control of myself." Fr Horan told Kerry's Eye that a lorry leading the race blocked his view of the runners and that he only saw the Brazilian when he was straight in front of him. He said he had apologised to the court in Athens for having used aggression. "I believe I was doing the work of God and I was trying to attract attention to the greatest book in the world - the Bible," he said. " I would like to think De Lima will still be alive when Christ comes, and Christ will give him a prize infinitely greater than the gold medal I deprived him of," he said. jeez Scart is just 15 mins drive from where i live, i went to youth club there and my friend lives there and knows the family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphina Posted September 4, 2004 #13 Share Posted September 4, 2004 "I believe I was doing the work of God and I was trying to attract attention to the greatest book in the world - the Bible," he said Yeah...because man, what great publicity this is for the bible...for years, children will remember this event...they will sing songs about it! Until your dying day, you will hear glorious stories of your struggle in the name of god, and forever shall people look up to you as..."That loony". ...I've said it once...I'll say it again... Some people's children Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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