SAO PAULO _ Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, the Brazilian who was tackled by a protester while leading the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics, is unlikely to run in the Beijing Games.

Lima could not recover from a muscle injury in time for this weekend's Prague Marathon, the last chance he had to improve his time and qualify for Beijing, Lima's spokesman Ricardo D'Angelo said Thursday.

Lima has the fourth best time among Brazilian runners, and only the top three will go to Beijing.

Hailed as a hero in Brazil after continuing the race in Athens _ and winning the bronze medal _ Lima can now only make it to Beijing if one of the three runners drops out.

"His chances are very slim, but it's still possible," D'Angelo said.

The 38-year-old Lima is the only Brazilian to have won an Olympic medal in the marathon.

He was leading in Athens when an Irish protester jumped from the crowd, grabbed him and pushed him off the course with about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) to go.