On August 29, 2004 in Athens, Greece, a Brazilian runner named Vanderlei de Lima was in first place in the men's marathon at the Olympic Games. He had a lead of almost 30 seconds. Suddenly, a man jumped out of the crowd and grabbed the runner. He wrestled with him, and knocked him into a group of spectators. When he got free, the marathoner continued on the course, but he had lost valuable time. He was soon passed by two other runners. He earned the bronze medal, but many people felt that he had been robbed of the gold. The Brazilian Track Federation made an appeal so that de Lima could be awarded first place, but the appeal was rejected.
The IOC awarded de Lima the Pierre de Coubertin Award for the sportsmanship and grace he showed in the way he handled the incident. In 2005, a gold - medal - winning Brazilian volleyball player named Emanuel Rego gave de Lima his gold medal on national TV, but de Lima did not accept the medal. He said, "I can not accept Emanuel's medal. I'm happy with mine; it is bronze but it means gold."
Hi Carla, I don't know what to say to that. His attitude shows real charater...someone that is a winner in more ways than one.
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