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2004 Olympics: Track and Field |
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Italian has the last word in marathon
Baldini claims Games' final gold in marathon; U.S. runner takes silver 12:05 AM CDT on Monday, August 30, 2004
ATHENS, Greece – At the first Olympic marathon 108 years ago, spectators
packing Panathinaiko Stadium rejoiced when a horseback rider brought
word of the leader approaching the stadium.
"A Greek," spread quickly.
This time, word was brought to the old marble stadium by the images on
two giant television screens.
"An Italian."
And then "An American." And then "A Brazilian."
Stefano Baldini of Italy won the last event of the Olympics in 2 hours,
10 minutes, 55 seconds. Mebrahtom Keflezighi of the United States was
second in 2:11:29, and Vanderlei de Lima of Brazil third in 2:12:11.
The only Greek in the race, Nikolaos Polias, finished 24th in a time of
2:17:56.
Lima led most of the race, but Baldini and Keflezighi were catching up
when a male spectator dashed across the road, grabbed de Lima and pushed
him into a crowd of spectators 1:53 into the race. Police quickly freed
de Lima, and he was back on the course.
"If that spectator didn't jump in front of me in the middle of the race,
who knows what would have happened," said de Lima. "Maybe I would have
won. It disturbed me a lot."
About seven minutes later, Baldini and Keflezighi passed him.
Baldini, 33, had finished third in the marathon at the 2001 and 2003
world championships.
"It was an unbelievable sensation because Panathinaiko is the story of
the marathon, so it's a fantastic feeling," Baldini said.
Keflezighi ran his first marathon in 2002, when he finished ninth in New
York. He was second in the U.S. marathon trials this year and first in
the 10,000 meters at the trials.
His family came to the United States in 1987 from the African nation of
Eritrea, and 10 years later he applied for U.S. citizenship, not knowing
if Eritrea would participate in the 2000 Olympics. He became a U.S.
citizen in 1998. He ran the 10,000 for the United States in the Sydney
Olympics, finishing 12th, despite a case of the flu.
His marathon medal was the 10th for the U.S. men but the first since
Frank Shorter, the winner in 1972, added a silver medal in 1976.
"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful," Keflezighi said. "Going in, I wasn't
a favorite. But that's why we run the race. I'm happy to win the silver."
E-mail kstephens@dallasnews.com
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