The details are not very fresh in my mind after nearly a decade, but I think I recall the athlete who was the object of the priest's outrageous act said later it did not cost him the race.
As for the suggestion that capital punishment would have been an appropriate penalty, let me say first that I am an opponent of the death penalty, although I think I understand the argument in favor of it. but really, for interfering with a race you would take a man's life? If that's a capital offense, I can only imagine how many hundreds of thousands of Americans you'd have executed ever year for far worse infractions.
To the original post, I have two comments, both peripheral to he general point, which is this guy shouldn't be permitted to compete in any race under any circumstances. He's lost his right to that. First, I suppose I'm hopelessly old school, but I long for the days,now long past, when race directors, not charities, made decisions concerning issuing bib numbers. Second, there was a recent thred about words we dislike, and I'd like to expand that to phrases. I hate the phrase "We have no choice but to..." It's your decision and you have a choice. Try this instead: You have a long history of showing utter and complete disrespect for athletic competition, and the values of athletic competition are the cornerstone of this race. Although it's within our discretion to issue you a number, we will not do it. Stay the hell away from this race and don't ever attempt entry again."