My Sportsman Choice: Vanderlei de Lima

By Josh Elliott

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We failed him. Who didn't feel something of the sort, in that shocking moment when Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima was bum-rushed by the kilt-wearing madman, just three miles from the finish of an Olympic men's marathon that he could no longer hope to win? After two weeks of placid competition in Athens at a Summer Games contested as war raged in Iraq, after a gaudy $1.5 billion had been spent by the Greek government and the IOC to ensure the safety of athletes and spectators, de Lima had suddenly become the Games' first victim. Cornelius Horan -- a defrocked Irish priest clad in a kilt, knee socks and a beret -- bolted from the crowd and forced de Lima, the race's leader, to the opposite curb before the runner could free himself and continue. Though de Lima remained in front, his lead would prove sadly cosmetic. The slight Brazilian, shaken and flailing, was soon overtaken by Italian Stefano Baldini and American Meb Keflezighi. In an instant, de Lima had been eclipsed, and his shot at gold, stolen.

So it was nothing short of stunning when de Lima shot through the tunnel of a packed Panathinaikos Stadium, a smile erupting across his face, his arms spread like wings as he dipped and soared around the track. When de Lima crossed the finish line, spent from tracing the race's mythic original path -- 26.2 miles from the city of Marathon to the stadium that served as home to the first modern Games -- he'd won bronze. At the awards ceremony afterward, it was impossible not to fixate on the Brazilian's sheer elation, the color of his medal be damned. When asked about the incident, he was gracious. "I think the Olympic spirit prevailed, and I prevailed," he said. "I'm very happy to have won this medal."

And that, quite simply, was that. While the Brazilian Olympic federation later quietly filed an appeal in seeking a duplicate gold medal (to no avail), de Lima's magnanimity throughout was breathtaking. In an era of athletic champions so often decided not on courts but in them -- a time when the even the slightest competitive inadequacies rain all manner of innuendo and accusation, rancor and legal action, upon all involved -- de Lima's simply joy in the face of his legitimately earned agony was staggering.

While naysayers will counter that his lead was shrinking at the time of the attack -- and that's certainly what it was, despite the Greek government's glorified wrist-slap of Horan, who despite a history of such behavior received only a suspended sentence and a middling fine -- they miss the greater point. De Lima could've easily made a further circus of the sad affair, could've hit the host country's newly emergent pride, borne of a Games safely hosted, where it would hurt most. The security forces had failed him at his most hopeful, his most vulnerable. De Lima could've cried foul, and thus left the year's seminal sporting event with a permanent scar. But he would have none of it. He chose to simply return home to Brazil, content to have come so heartbreakingly close. When he arrived at the Sao Paolo airport, de Lima was met by a news crew, perhaps hoping the newly minted national hero would indulge his anger or disappointment.

Instead, he spoke only of good fortune -- his, and ours. "For me, it wasn't important if [my medal] was gold, silver or bronze," said de Lima, breaking into sobs several times as he spoke. "The most important thing for me was to make it to the podium. I think the Greek gods, the Olympic gods, were with me. God chose a moment for me to prove myself."

And, in so doing, gave us a most deserving Sportsman of the Year.

Sports Illustrated will announce the 2004 Sportsman of the Year winner on FOX on November 28. Check back every weekday until then to read more Sportsman picks from SI writers.