Marial's Olympic Dream Comes True

The following story and ensuing column were writen by Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune, who helped champion the cause of former Iowa State runner Guor Marial to partcipate in the Olympic Games. Guor has been accepted. "What a great thing for Guor," Iowa State head coach Corey Ihmels said. "It's a great thing because he was so deserving."

CHICAGO -- Guor Marial, the South Sudanese marathoner whose man-without-a-country Olympic plight was first brought to light by the Tribune five days ago, will be able to compete in the London Summer Games under the Olympic flag.

The International Olympic Committee's executive board approved Marial's participation Saturday.

Since Marial does not have a passport from any country, he still needs to get the documents necessary for him to leave and re-enter both the United States and the United Kingdom, according to Brad Poore, the California attorney who befriended him and advocated for his Olympic participation after they met at last year's Twin Cities Marathon.

"I want to thank the IOC for hearing my request and for giving South Sudan its spot in the Olympics," Marial said Saturday via telephone.

Marial, a refugee from the civil war in the Sudan, had made the Olympic "A" qualifying standard but his participation was in doubt because his homeland, since July 9, 2011 the independent Republic of South Sudan, has yet to establish a national Olympic Committee.  That is the usual prerequisite for Olympic participation.

The IOC approval of Marial as an independent athlete means he will appear in the race - and Friday's opening ceremony, if he can get to London in time - in clothing that does not have any flag or national identification.

"I am fine with that because I will be carrying South Sudan and its flag in my heart," Marial said.  "All South Sudan will see me, and it will give my country hope in the world community."

Marial is a 2011 graduate of Iowa State who lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.  He was allowed to resettle in the United States with refugee status in 2001.  He has a U.S. green card and has begun the process of acquiring U.S. citizenship.

For his full story as it appeared on chicagotribune.com, click here.

Because his Olympic participation remained uncertain, Marial had been gearing his training toward the Oct. 7 Chicago Marathon.  He said he was in the middle of a training cycle, working on speed endurance and volume.

"I still have a week of training to do some speed," he said, "and I think I still have the volume from San Diego," he said.

Marial ran the June 3 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 55 seconds.  It was his second marathon, following a 2:14:32 at Twin Cities last October.

"I would still like to run the Chicago Marathon," he said.  "It depends on how my body feels after the Olympics."

  Globetrotting by Philip Hersh

12:20 p.m. CDT, July 21, 2012

LONDON - Professional journalists try to keep the proper distance from subjects we write about.

That ethical guideline does not prevent us from feeling human emotions about some of the subjects.

So I wanted to cheer early Saturday afternoon when I got this email from International Olympic Committee communications director Mark Adams:

"Heads up - they've approved the sth sudan athlete under the ioc flag....you might want to break the news to him."

The "sth sudan" athlete in question is South Sudanese marathoner Guor Marial, a refugee from the civil war in the Sudan whose story I had been the first to tell, in a Tuesday post on my Globetrotting blog that also appeared in Thursday's print edition.

I did reach Marial an hour later in Flagstaff, Arizona, after having first called Brad Poore, the California attorney whose advocacy was critical in the IOC's decision to let the runner compete in the London Games as an independent athlete.  The role of notifying Marial was not appropriately mine.

"Brad is a hero, of course," Marial said.

Indeed he is.

Poore met Marial at the Twin Cities Marathon last fall.  He and Marial became friends quickly.  Poore worked for months to find a way for the IOC to make a place for an athlete who was an Olympic "man without a country" because his newly independent homeland, the Republic of South Sudan, has yet to form a national Olympic committee.

And give some credit to John Ruger, the U.S. Olympic Committee ombudsman, who thought it would help if Marial's case were presented in the mass media.  Ruger gave me the tip about Marial when I called to ask for some detail about how Lopez Lomong - another civil war refugee from the southern part of the Sudan, now the independent country - - was notified he had been chosen U.S. flagbearer at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics.

The IOC wound up doing the right thing in recognizing Marial's situation was exceptional and allowing him to run.

But there is no question who is the biggest hero in this piece.

It is a runner who never gave up hope when members of his family died in the civil war, when he was a virtual child slave to a Sudanese soldier, when his jaw was broken by Sudanese forces, when he fled to Egypt and wound up in New Hampshire as a 16-year-old refugee.  He won a race for his life.

The IOC decision means Marial will be an "independent athlete," with no flag or national identification on his clothing.

"I am fine with that because I will be carrying South Sudan and its flag in my heart," Marial said.  "All South Sudan will see me, and it will give my country hope in the world community."

Marial still needs to clear some bureaucratic hurdles to get travel documents he needs for London.  Who would dare keep him from running another 26 miles, 385 yards in a journey that has taken him to a place where the entire human race can cheer?