Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (born 4 July 1969) is a Brazilian retired long-distance runner. He was born in Cruzeiro do Oeste, Paraná. While leading the marathon after 35 km (22 mi) at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was attacked on the course by Irish former priestCornelius "Neil" Horan. Following the incident, Lima fell from first to third place, eventually winning the bronze medal. He was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for his sportsmanship shown in that race.
Lima won his first marathon in 1996, taking the Tokyo International Marathon title. He attended his first Summer Olympics that same year, running in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Games and finishing in 47th place. His first world appearance followed a year later at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics, where he finished 23rd. He set a personal best of 2:08:31 at the 1998 Tokyo Marathon, finishing second behind Alberto Juzdado.[3]
Lima was a two-time Pan American champion, running 2:17:20 at the 1999 Games and 2:19:08 for the second victory at the 2003 Games. He began the 2004 season with a win (2:09:39) at the Hamburg Marathon.
Attack at 2004 Summer Olympics
On 29 August 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Lima was attempting to become the first Brazilian to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon. Soon after the 35 km (22 mi) mark, holding a lead of around 25 seconds, Lima was halted and grappled with by spectator Neil Horan, an Irish priest who was later defrocked.[4] Horan had previously disrupted the 2003 Formula OneBritish Grand Prix by running onto the Silverstone track. Greek spectator Polyvios Kossivas helped free Lima from Horan's grasp and help Lima resume running. Horan said "I wasn't doing it as a prank, I was doing it to spread the gospel and to prepare people for the Second Coming."[5]
Lima lost about 5–10 seconds in the incident, and he was passed by ItalianStefano Baldini (2:10:55) and AmericanMeb Keflezighi (2:11:29) later at the 38 km (24 mi) mark. Lima ultimately finished third with a time of 2:12:11, winning the bronze medal. The Brazilian Athletics Confederation launched an appeal on behalf of Lima with president Roberto Gesta de Melo [fr; pt] claiming that "someone took him out of the race and we are asking for a gold medal for our athlete... solutions like that have been done in the past for other events." The appeal was rejected.[5]
At the closing of the event, the International Olympic Committee awarded Lima the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for the spirit of sportsmanship. The medal was officially presented to Lima on 7 December in Rio de Janeiro, during a formal ceremony organized on a yearly basis by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) during the Prêmio Brasil Olímpico. Lima was also named Brazilian Athlete of the Year in 2004, receiving the trophy presented by the COB at the same time as the Pierre de Coubertin Medal. His award was the first occasion in which the winner was selected by online popular vote.[5]
Post-Olympic career
Lima lighting the Olympic cauldron in 2016.
Lima ran at the world championships for a second time, but did not finish in the 2005 World marathon race. He took part in the 2005 Saint Silvester Road Race that same year but only managed to finish in 14th place. Lima attempted to defend his title at the 2007 Pan American Games, but dropped out with muscular problems at the 37-kilometer mark.[6] He retired as a marathoner after running the Paris Marathon in April 2009.[7]
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