大象传媒

The Olympic marathon race has had more than its fair share of bizarre moments over the years.

There will be more on other Olympic marathons later in the countdown, but today I want to focus on the

The picture above should jog your memory enough, but in case you missed it, Brazil's Vanderlei de Lima is the athlete who had his hopes of Olympic gold destroyed by defrocked Irish priest, Cornelius Horan.

De Lima had taken the lead around the halfway mark and stayed in front until Horan's rugby tackle with around four miles remaining.

Spectators leapt to de Lima's assistance and hauled Horan away, but the damage had been done.

Italy's Stefano Baldini, who had been closing the gap anyway, took advantage to win gold while America's Meb Keflezighi also passed him before the finish.

Remarkably, De Lima managed to hold onto third place, and received a huge cheer from the crowd, who had been watching events unfold on a giant screen, as he entered the Panathinaiko Stadium.

He initially said he was happy to have won the bronze medal, but after the medal ceremony he said: "If it were not for that lunatic, I am sure I would have won the gold."

The International Olympic Committee awarded De Lima the Pierre de Coubertin Medal at the closing ceremony in recognition of his "exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values during the marathon",

And I reckon De Lima may not be the biggest fan of the number 35. He was 35 years old at the time of the incident, and had just reached the 35km mark of the race when he was attacked.

Should De Lima have been awarded a gold medal as well as Baldini?