Which athlete won the men’s marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics?

Stefano Baldini won the men’s marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The Italian runner finished in 2:10:55 on a hot, demanding course that followed much of the route associated with the ancient marathon tradition. Baldini moved ahead late in the race and won by a margin of more than a minute.

Brazil’s Vanderlei de Lima had led for much of the event but was attacked by a spectator at about 36 kilometres. He recovered to win bronze, while American Meb Keflezighi took silver.

Baldini’s victory was Italy’s first Olympic men’s marathon gold since Gelindo Bordin won at Seoul in 1988. The Athens course finished in the Panathenaic Stadium, a venue also used for the 1896 Olympics.