04/25/24
August 29, 2004
Sportus interruptus: Three miles from the finish, the leader in the men's marathon was knocked to the ground by a spectator and was subsequently passed by two runners. The attacker has attempted similar stunts at other events to promote his apocalyptic religious books.
They say he was a defrocked priest, but thankfully he had clothes on. "What's under your kilt, Angus???
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:09 PM on August 29, 2004
And of course another call for a duplicate gold. Not that this isn't a completely fucked situation--how can anyone consider this a fair result?
posted by billsaysthis at 08:19 PM on August 29, 2004
On the one hand, it isn't terribly fair, but on the other hand, it cost him only ten seconds, he lost by a lot more than that, and he had already been fading for miles when it happened. So it isn't exactly huge tragedy, especially since he still medaled. (I can't put my finger on why, but it would have seemed a lot worse if his concentration had been so broken that he'd slipped to 4th instead of 3rd.) That said, I hope they nail the idiot who did it for personal assault and put him away for a long, long time.
posted by tieguy at 08:40 PM on August 29, 2004
Technically, he wasn't knocked to the ground. He was definitely knocked off course and slowed to a halt by being pushed into the crowd. And he wasn't "fading", since his lead from the previous mile had actually gone UP that mile (from 30 seconds to 45 seconds). However, I will concede that the final kick by the Italian (and possibly the American) would have been MORE than enough to reel him in during the last 2 kilometres. That said, he deserves all the accolades he gets. The fact that he finished the race, he blew kisses to the crowd before the finish line, he did the "I'm an airplane, watch me swoop!" celebration on the final turn and he said after the race: "What prevailed here was the Olympic spirit. Never mind the result of the appeal. I'm very happy to have won this medal." shows that we are dealing with a true competitor and a fine human being. He's probably the best representation of good sportsmanship that I've seen at these Olympics. I kind of feel sorry for Stefano Baldini as no one will remember who won this race, but everyone will remember the incident that occurred in it. What a terrible way to marr his triumph.
posted by grum@work at 09:13 PM on August 29, 2004
the thumper only got a one year suspended sentence. what kinda shit is that?
posted by garfield at 08:45 AM on August 30, 2004
I was going to go with "Crackpot Wrecks Siganture Event." Same guy from the British Grand Prix. Apparently the world is coming to and end and we should all read the bible. Funny, I don't remember the part about Jesus' destructive publicity stunts. They say he was a defrocked priest, but thankfully he had clothes on. The Brazilian who ended third is getting a special medal for extrodinary sportsmanship. Which is nice, but clearly no one wants to re-run the race.