# Olympic marathon incident - what the hell? (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107 "2004-08-29T17:34:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/1 "2004-08-29T17:34:43Z")
The commentators kept calling the guy who attacked the Brazilian a “protestor.” Anyone have any idea if that’s the case and if so what he was supposedly protesting? Anyone recognize the outfit/costume he was wearing? Is it a clue to his supposed cause? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/2 "2004-08-29T17:38:00Z")
He seemed to be wearing a beret and a kilt (Greek or Scottish?). Though I too am curious, I hope that his cause gets no publicity at all. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/3 "2004-08-29T17:42:23Z")
NBC just announced that there was a sign on his back that read in part “Israel: Fulfillment of Prophecy” and additional writing in red which couldn’t be made out on the tape. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/4 "2004-08-29T18:00:07Z")
I think he was less of a protestor and more of a nutcase. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/5 "2004-08-29T18:01:47Z")
There are some photos up on Yahoo. I think that’s a Greek costume. White billowy shirt, green vest, red kilt, green beret, and long green socks. The red lettering said “Says the Bible”. There is some other lettering that I can’t make out. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/6 "2004-08-29T18:05:47Z")
I thought I recognized the guy’s clothing from last year’s protester at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, and [this looks like the same guy](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/3081905.stm) - Neil Horan of London, a nutcase. He wandered out onto the course during the race with a sign, and nearly got killed. [Says here](http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/7285/) he’s “a radical Irish priest who told police afterward that he wanted to publicize his beliefs that the world is about to end.”. This time, the sign read somethign about Israel and a prophecy, though. When news breaks, SDMB breaks it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/7 "2004-08-29T19:06:46Z")
NBC just reported that the guy is “Cornelius Horan” so presumably the same nutjob. Lima has issued a statement that he believes the interference cost him the gold but that the bronze is also a great achievement. The Brazilian contingent has filed an appeal asking that a duplicate gold be issued to Lima. The governing body has said the results will stand. The IOC is awarding Lima a special medal for sportsmanship which is named for modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/8 "2004-08-29T19:25:00Z")
Yep, it’s the [same guy.](http://sports.yahoo.com/oly/track_field/news?slug=ap-marathonrun&prov=ap&type=lgns) He’s a repeat offender, and my guess is he will probably do it again at some point given the chance. What can sports organizers do about people like this? Lock them up? There haven’t been any laws violated, have there? What I’m asking is, if you have a guy in the crowd who is a known fruitcake who has crashed events before, (and presuming someone positively IDs him,) does security have to wait until he actually perpetrates his stunt before hauling him off, or do they have the legal right to stop him at the gate on the grounds that, even though he’s not yet causing a disturbance, he might? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/9 "2004-08-29T19:41:05Z")
Unless the guy’s passport was flagged when he entered Greece who’s going to notice him? I don’t know how passports under the EU work, but what sort of border checks would the man have gone through? He might not have even been using a passport. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/10 "2004-08-29T19:53:22Z")
MSNBC has an article and a picture of the attack: [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5859225/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5859225/) If your scroll down a bit, you’ll see a picture of the police trying to separate Horan from the crowd. He’s lucky to get away uninjured. Those Greeks looked pissed! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/11 "2004-08-29T19:56:05Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > What can sports organizers do about people like this? Lock them up? There haven’t been any laws violated, have there? I don’t know what the laws in Greece are but in the US he’d be looking at aggravated battery and probably tresspassing. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/12 "2004-08-29T19:58:42Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Unless the guy’s passport was flagged when he entered Greece who’s going to notice him? In that outfit? ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/13 "2004-08-29T20:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > What I’m asking is, if you have a guy in the crowd who is a known fruitcake who has crashed events before, (and presuming someone positively IDs him,) does security have to wait until he actually perpetrates his stunt before hauling him off, or do they have the legal right to stop him at the gate on the grounds that, even though he’s not yet causing a disturbance, he might? That might be more relevant to events in a stadium, but this was on a 26 miles course, there would be no ‘gate’ as such. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/14 "2004-08-29T20:24:01Z")
There would be close to 50 miles worth of crowd to monitor if fans could stand on both sides of the course (ballpark figure taking into account distance run in stadiums and such). It would be tough to monitor the whole course. I don’t think that the Greek police would have caught too much flak for removing someone who was a known troublemaker if he had been identified ahead of time. I don’t think police in any country would have had a problem. At worst, two big security guys would have just stood next to the guy and made him very uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/15 "2004-08-29T21:26:27Z")
I’m amazed…as soon as they announced the content of the sign on the nutjob’s back, I thought… “great… :rolleyes: .an American”. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/16 "2004-08-29T22:20:46Z")
In fact he is Irish. Unusual to see an Irishman challenging the leader in an Olympic race. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/17 "2004-08-29T22:29:10Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > In fact he is Irish. Unusual to see an Irishman challenging the leader in an Olympic race. Oooh you cheeky sausage! Saucer of milk for table 2. 😉 I’ll have you know Ireland got a [gold medal](http://breaking.tcm.ie/2004/08/27/story163885.html)! 😛 And Jack B Yeats won [Silver](http://www.eurolympic.org/jahia/Jahia/cache/offonce/pid/361?language=fra) in 1924. For a painting. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/18 "2004-08-29T22:35:09Z")
Counting this year, Ireland has won 21 medals in the Summer Olympics. 6 in track and field (or athletics) 9 in boxing 1 in sailing 4 in swimming 1 in equestrian In the story about the nutjob at the marathon, the AP reported that the Canadian man who disrupted a diving competition by jumping on to the platform dressed in a tutu has already been convicted of a crime and sentenced to five months in prison, although he is free on appeal. I would assume that this crime would probably face a stiffer sentence since the prosecutors will likely bring up assault and battery charges or whatever the Greek equivalent of that is. Any idea what the legal system is in Greece? Civil? Common? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/19 "2004-08-29T22:52:58Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Oooh you cheeky sausage! Saucer of milk for table 2. 😉 Yes, miaow indeed. Possibly uncalled-for bitchiness there. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107/20 "2004-08-30T04:26:22Z")
I say lock the guy in a room full of Brazilian Olympic team members – or, better yet, sports fans – and let him explain his way out of this one. :mad: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympic-marathon-incident-what-the-hell-spoilers/262107.md?page=2)