Guor Mading Maker (born 15 April 1984), also known as Guor Marial, is a

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

ese Olympic

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete. He is a

Dinka The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out ...

tribesman. Maker competed in the men's marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Due to civil war that saw South Sudan split from Sudan, he has refused to compete under the flag of the latter, stating that, "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. Maker competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics for

, the country's first appearance at an Olympic Games. A film has been made of his life called “Runner”.

Early life

Maker left home at the age of seven to live with his uncle in northern Sudan. In 1994, at the age of nine, he fled from a refugee camp during the Sudanese Civil War. While 28 members of his family were killed during the conflict, he was able to escape to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and then permanently to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He was granted

refugee status A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

by the United States when he was 16, and now lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona. Though his parents survived the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, at the time of the 2012 Olympics he had not seen them in 20 years. However he returned to South Sudan in 2013 and was reunited with his parents. Eight of his brothers and sisters were killed in the war. He began participating in track and field while attending

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Concord, New Hampshire, after being encouraged by his gym teacher and also competed in college at Iowa State, where he was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n athlete.

2012 Summer Olympics

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. Marial's case was called "unique" by the IOC, as prior to the games South Sudan had yet to form a National Olympic Committee and seek full recognition by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC), which would have allowed them to send a team and compete under the

flag of South Sudan The flag of South Sudan was adopted following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. A similar version of the flag was previously used as the flag of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The ...

. He holds permanent resident status in the

, but not

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

. According to his interview in

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

, 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." The National Olympic Committee of Sudan offered to allow Marial to compete as a member of the Sudanese team, however 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." 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." The IOC-executive board announced its decision on 20 July to allow Marial to participate as an Independent Olympic Athlete. Marial's travel documentation could not reach him in time, and so he could not march in the Opening Ceremony on 27 July. Marial finished 47th in the marathon, with a time of 2:19:32. His personal best is 2:12:55. 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.

2016 Summer Olympics

Marial was selected for the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

in the marathon. He was the flag-bearer for

at the opening ceremony. He finished with a season best of 2:22:45, coming 81st overall.

Military career

Maker became an Airman in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

on 2 February 2018. He was selected for the United States Air Force World Class Athlete Program.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marial, Guor 1984 births Living people South Sudanese male athletes South Sudanese male marathon runners American male marathon runners Olympic athletes of South Sudan Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Independent Olympic Athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics Iowa State University alumni People from Flagstaff, Arizona People from Unity (state) Dinka people United States Air Force World Class Athlete Program