In a men’s Olympic marathon as unique as the old marble stadium where the race ended, an American born in east Africa finished second Sunday to earn the first U.S. medal in the event in 28 years.
Meb Keflezighi’s silver medal followed a disturbing incident in which a defrocked Irish priest rushed onto the road and tackled leader Vanderlei Lima of Brazil about 3 miles from the end of the race between Marathon and Athens.
Spectators helped Lima free himself from the intruder’s clutches, and Lima returned to the course unhurt but grimacing and shaking his head. Lima soon faded to third place, with Stefano Baldini of Italy entering Panathinaiko Stadium first to applause from tens of thousands of fans at the site of the first modern Games in 1896.
“If that spectator didn’t jump in front of me in the middle of the race, who knows what would have happened?” said Lima, 35 (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). “I was very afraid. I lost my rhythm.”
Still, Lima declined to blame organizers for a security lapse that he called “an isolated incident.” Short of fencing in entire race routes, organizers can do little to deter interlopers in events such as the Olympic marathon and the Tour de France.
The intruder was identified as Cornelius Horan. He wore a green tam-o’-shanter, a red kilt, knee-high socks and a message on his chest: “The Second Coming is near.”
Dressed in an outfit similar to the one he wore Sunday, Horan ran onto the track at the British Grand Prix in July 2003. Formula One drivers swerved around him. He also caused a disturbance at Wimbledon last year.
“I really couldn’t defend myself,” Lima said. “Someone simply attacked me with his whole body. It could have happened anywhere.”
Fighting to catch Lima, Keflezighi and Baldini saw the commotion ahead. Keflezighi spoke to Baldini in Italian.
“I told Baldini, `Let’s go get him,'” Keflezighi said.
The temperature was not as high Sunday as during the women’s marathon last week, but the 86-degree reading at the start was far hotter than ideal for a fast 26.2-mile race.
Baldini’s winning time of 2 hours 10 minutes 55 seconds was six minutes slower than the world record set last year by Kenyan Paul Tergat, who faded to 10th place here. Like women’s bronze medalist Deena Kastor, Keflezighi, 29, said he wore an “ice vest” before the race to dull the effects of the bright Mediterranean sun. And like Kastor, he paced himself for a strong finishing kick.
Kastor won a surprise bronze Aug. 22. Keflezighi’s silver means the U.S. earned medals in both marathons for the first time at the same Games.
“Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful,” said Keflezighi, who was clocked in 2:11.29. “Going in I wasn’t a favorite, but that’s why we run the race.”
He became the first American to win a medal in an Olympic men’s marathon since Frank Shorter earned silver in Montreal in 1976. No American has won the men’s marathon gold since Shorter in Munich in 1972.
Keflezighi, who came from Eritrea when he was 10, said “there should be no question about” the resurgence of U.S. distance running.
Baldini, 33, said he was especially moved by the spectacle of the finish at Panathinaiko Stadium. The setting sun cast a pinkish glow on the stands and gave a purplish hue to the mountain visible from downtown Athens.
“This is really the stuff of legends, what I’m living through,” said Baldini, who placed third in the last two world championship marathons.
The international track federation refused an appeal late Sunday from Brazilian officials who complained about the incident that broke Lima’s front-running stride. Lima nevertheless celebrated without abandon at the finish line and at the medal ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.
Fans cheered him loudly, and he thrust out his arms in the “airplane” gesture made famous by Brazil’s soccer players as he rounded the track for the race’s final lap.
“What prevailed here was the Olympic spirit,” Lima said. “I am very happy with my medal. No matter what happened, it was a great job to be on the stand with these athletes.”
