Baldini triumph marred by intruder

Italian Stefano Baldini won the Olympic men's marathon yesterday after an intruder dashed on to the course late in the race and bundled the then leader Vanderlei de Lima into the crowd.

De Lima, who surged to the front before the halfway stage of the 42.195kms race from Marathon to the Panathinaiko stadium, managed to extricate himself from the spectators but was clearly shaken by the incident. The man, Cornelius Horan, a former Irish priest who interrupted the British F1 Grand Prix last year, was arrested and taken to a police station.

"I lost the gold medal at that moment," de Lima said. "I was afraid, I did not know if the man who attacked was armed." The twice Pan American champion had been tiring anyway at that stage and Baldini, a former European champion and twice world bronze medallist, slipped into the lead at 40kms and strode away to a comfortable win in two hours 10 minutes 55 seconds.

American Meb Keflezighi finished second in 2:11:29 with de Lima, who received a standing ovation from the spectators in the venue of the 1896 Athens Games, taking the bronze medal.

"Today I was sure because I am in top condition," Baldini said. "The way I ran today made it impossible for anybody to beat me."

Brazil protest

Brazil's Olympic Committee will protest to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the assault on de Lima during yesterday's marathon.

The Brazilians protested immediately after the event, asking for De Lima - who finished third - to be given a duplicate gold medal, but it was denied.

The International Olympic Committee gave De Lima a special medal for his sportsmanship. Brazil have now decided to go to CAS.

They want the result reviewed on the basis that De Lima was not given the necessary security on the streets of Athens and this stopped him winning.