De Lima gold medal appeal

THE BRAZILIAN Olympic Committee (COB) has officially appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne for marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima to be awarded an Olympic gold medal.

De Lima had been leading in Athens on August 29 when he was attacked by former priest, Irishman Neil Horan, in the latter stages of the race and dropped to third.

Brazil have requested two gold medals be awarded as they do not want eventual winner Stefano Baldini of Italy to lose his medal.

They have requested that a gold medal be awarded to de Lima in order to “remedy the damages he suffered” and that the other competitors keep their medals.

“We’re defending the interests of Brazilian sport and of Vanderlei himself,” said COB president Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

The International Olympic Committee gave de Lima a medal named after the founder of the modern Games, Pierre De Coubertin, at the closing ceremony, in recognition of his “exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values”.

CAS will deliver its decision within four months.