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Guor Marial

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Guor Marial
Guor Marial in the 2012 Summer Olympics Men's marathon in London
Personal information
Birth nameGuor Mading Maker
NationalitySouth Sudanese
Born (1984-04-15) 15 April 1984 (age 40)
Panrieng County, Unity, Sudan (present-day South Sudan)
Alma materIowa State
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Country South Sudan
SportAthletics
EventMarathon
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals47th (2012); 82nd (2016)
Personal best2:12:55[1]
Military career
Maker receives an "Airman's Coin" at the Coin Ceremony February 1, 2018 outside the Pfingston Reception Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.
Allegiance United States
Service / branch United States Air Force
Years of service2018–present
Rank Senior Airman[2]
Unit21st Dental Squadron
Updated on 7 August 2023

Guor Mading Maker (born 15 April 1984), also known as Guor Marial,[3] is a South Sudanese Olympic track and field athlete. He is a Dinka tribesman.

Maker competed in the men's marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Due to the civil war that saw South Sudan split from Sudan, he has refused to compete under the flag of the latter, stating, "It would be betraying my people". He was one of four athletes competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics under the Olympic flag rather than that of an individual country.[4]

Maker competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics for South Sudan, the country's first appearance at an Olympic Games.

A film has been made of his life called Runner.[5]

Early life

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Maker left home at the age of seven to live with his uncle in northern Sudan.[3] In 1994, at the age of nine, he fled from a refugee camp during the Sudanese Civil War.[6] While 28 members of his family were killed during the conflict,[6] he was able to escape to Egypt, and then permanently to the United States.[7] He was granted refugee status by the United States when he was 16. Though his parents survived the civil war, at the time of the 2012 Olympics, he had not seen them in 20 years.[8] However, he returned to South Sudan in 2013 and was reunited with his parents.[3] Eight of his brothers and sisters were killed in the war.[9]

He began participating in track and field while attending high school in Concord, New Hampshire,[10] after being encouraged by his gym teacher.[3] He also competed in college at Iowa State, where he was an All-American athlete.[8]

2012 Summer Olympics

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Marial fulfilled the A-qualification standard for the marathon in October 2011, allowing him to participate in the Olympic marathon event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[6] His case was called "unique" by the IOC,[11] as prior to the games, South Sudan had yet to form a National Olympic Committee and seek full recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which would have allowed them to send a team and compete under the flag of South Sudan.

Marial holds permanent resident status in the United States, but not citizenship.[9] According to his interview in Runner's World, he applied for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen in 2011 and had his naturalization interview, but his application remains pending: "Technically, I was supposed to be a citizen last June, because I did everything, I did my citizen test, I did my interview, I did my fingerprint, and everything was all set. All I needed to do was go to their office and get my passport and do the ceremony. That was in June 2011, but there has been a security background check...and that's what took everything longer."[12]

The National Olympic Committee of Sudan offered to allow Marial to compete as a member of the Sudanese team, but he rejected this offer, saying, "It's not right for me to do that. It's not right for me to represent the country I refuged from."[13] He went on to say, "If I ran for Sudan, I would be betraying my people. I would be dishonoring the two million people who died for our freedom."[9]

The IOC-executive board announced its decision on 20 July to allow Marial to participate as an Independent Olympic Athlete.[14] However, his travel documentation did not reach him in time, and so he could not march in the opening ceremony on 27 July.[8]

Marial finished 47th in the marathon, with a time of 2:19:32.[15] His personal best is 2:12:55.[1]

In 2013, Marial became a US citizen.[16] He competed at the 2012 Olympics using his adopted name of Marial, which was the surname of his uncle. However, he has since reverted to his birth name.[3]

2016 Summer Olympics

[edit]

Marial was selected for the 2016 Olympic Games in the marathon. At the opening ceremony, he was the flag-bearer for South Sudan.[17]

He finished with a season best of 2:22:45, coming 81st overall.[18]

Military career

[edit]

Maker became an Airman in the United States Air Force on 2 February 2018.[19] He was selected for the United States Air Force World Class Athlete Program.[20] He is currently a dental technician with the 21st Dental Squadron.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "South Sudan refugee to run marathon in Olympic colours". Sudan Tribune. July 22, 2012. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  2. ^ Castillo, Kaitlin (17 October 2022). "Maker runs towards greatness". 505th Command and Control Wing News. Archived from the original on 7 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Reynolds, Tom; Sliney, Noel; Wright, Katie (4 August 2015). "One year to Rio 2016: Five global athletes' Olympic odysseys". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  4. ^ "London 2012 Olympics: South Sudan's Guor Marial allowed to compete under Olympic flag in London". The Telegraph. 21 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  5. ^ Press, Detroit Free. "documentary 'Runner' tells story of refugee who becomes Olympian". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  6. ^ a b c "BBC Sport – Olympic marathon: Guor Marial, running for the world". BBC News. 2012-07-23. Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  7. ^ "Guor Marial: An Olympian without a country". The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  8. ^ a b c "Olympian without a country won't march in opening ceremony". USA Today. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  9. ^ a b c Kors, Joshua (23 July 2012). "Guor Marial: Marathon Runner Flees Sudan, Heads to London Olympics". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Concord Monitor". www.concordmonitor.com. Archived from the original on 2024-01-17. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  11. ^ Guor Marial is a marathoner without a country, running under the Olympic flag[dead link], Washington Post, August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012
  12. ^ For South Sudan Runner, Country Comes Before Olympics Archived 2012-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, Runner's World, July 20, 2012. Accessed August 12, 2012
  13. ^ "For South Sudanese marathoner, Olympics would be the ultimate refuge". Chicago Tribune. 18 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  14. ^ "IOC Executive Board meets ahead of London Games". Olympic.org. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Men's Marathon – Olympic Athletics, London 2012". London 2012. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  16. ^ "'Lost Boy' and 2:12 Marathoner Guor Marial To Become U.S. Citizen". Runners World. February 11, 2013. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  17. ^ Service, Tribune News. "From refugee to Olympian: The inspirational story of South Sudan's marathon man". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  18. ^ "Rio 2016 Marathon men – Olympic Athletics". International Olympic Committee. 2020-11-14. Archived from the original on 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  19. ^ "Former slave, two-time Olympian becomes an Airman". Joint Base San Antonio. Archived from the original on 2018-02-25. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  20. ^ "Airman 1st Class Guor Maker". United States Air Force World Class Athlete Program. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Maker runs towards greatness". 505th Command and Control Wing. 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2023-08-07.[permanent dead link]
[edit]
Olympic Games
Preceded by
First
 Flagbearer for  South Sudan
2016 Rio de Janeiro 		Succeeded by
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