Irish invite for De Lima

Report: Protest mars marathon

The Brazilian runner jostled by an Irish-born ex-priest in the Olympic marathon has been invited to Ireland by the country's Sports Minister.

Vanderlei de Lima was in the lead in Sunday's race when he was pushed into a group of spectators by former priest Cornelius Horan.

The shaken athlete resumed his race but was overtaken by rivals and ended up claiming the bronze medal.

However, Irish minister John O'Donoghue described the incident as a "travesty".

As a result, De Lima has been invited to attend the Dublin City Marathon in October as a guest of the Irish nation.

"I would like to warmly congratulate him on winning a bronze medal," said Mor O'Donoghue.

"It is a cause of deep regret to everybody in Ireland, which is a great sporting nation, that what did happen should have occurred," he said.

We will certainly receive him warmly Irish sports minister John O'Donoghue

"It is possible that he would have won a gold medal if he had not been interfered with," O'Donoghue told RTE state radio.

"I sincerely hope Mr de Lima will come to Ireland soon and that we will be able to make some presentation to him and he can see his way to being received by the state.

"He will be most welcome to Ireland and we will certainly receive him warmly and he will be assured, following his trip to Ireland, that the Irish people empathise with his plight," O'Donoghue said.

De Lima, speaking from Brazil on the programme, said he was thrilled by the invitation and would do everything possible to attend if his schedule allowed.

"I know that the people of Ireland feel very bad about the incident," he said.

De Lima said of Horan: "I bear no rancour at all. I feel no begrudgery against the man who stopped me."

He accepted an apology from Horan's brother Dan, adding; "This is the path that God has chosen for me.

"I look forward to meeting the Horan family and will give them a hug."

Marathon wrecker avoids jail term

Irish Olympic Committee president Pat Hickey added that he had never felt so ashamed in his life as a result of the incident, calling it "a tragic, horrific thing to happen".

Horan, 57, who has said he wanted to highlight the "second coming" of Jesus Christ, was given a one-year suspended sentence by a Greek court and is now back in London.

On Thursday, the former priest appeared in a London court on two counts of indecently assaulting a child.

Horan denies the offences, which are alleged to have taken place in the early 1990s.