The parade of nations Friday during the opening ceremonies is the most poignant portion of the Olympic games. They provide perspective that won’t be found in the pool, the soccer field or the basketball court. Over 10,000 athletes representing 204 nations will compete. Most of those countries and the vast majority of those thousands of athletes will return home without medals. They will never be seen on television. But as the world comes together in London, they all matter.
Guor Marial is a 28-year-old marathon runner. He competed for a high school in New Hampshire before becoming an All-American at the University of Iowa State. He lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona. Marial may be the most compelling athlete at the London Olympic Games. He is definitely the most traveled.
You’re excused if you missed Marial at the opening ceremonies. He wasn’t there. Like us, he was watching the festivities on television. Marial was the last qualifier for the games, having successfully petitioned for inclusion. His invitation came just last week. There wasn’t enough time to deal with the paperwork to make the trip. Especially without a passport.
Guor was born 28 years ago in Sudan. That bit of bad fortune led to his being kidnapped and forced into a labor camp during the long Sudanese Civil War at age eight. He risked his life escaping successfully to Egypt and was subsequently granted asylum to the United States.
Marial was relocated to Concord, New Hampshire, where he took up running, broke the national high school two mile record and earned a scholarship to Iowa State. He ran an Olympic qualifying time in the marathon. Connected friends had been trying since October to get him into the games. On July 21st, they succeeded.
The would-be Olympian is not a United States citizen. He can’t run for us. He will not run for Sudan, which killed eight of his brothers and sisters and 28 members of his family in a civil war that claimed nearly three million lives over fifty years. Marial considers the newest nation on the planet, a result of that civil war, South Sudan, his home now. The country is barely a year old and doesn’t have an Olympic committee. They’ve been concerned with other things.
He’ll run in the marathon under the Olympic flag. An unlikely medalist, Marial could finish in the top twenty. He has one other goal in mind. That his parents, living in a South Sudan village without electricity, will get the chance to see him. He says they plan a 40 mile trek to another town to watch on television. Guor hasn’t seen his parents in twenty years.
The parade of nations Friday during the opening ceremonies is the most poignant portion of the Olympic games. They provide perspective that won’t be found in the pool, the soccer field or the basketball court. Over 10,000 athletes representing 204 nations will compete. Most of those countries and the vast majority of those thousands of athletes will return home without medals. They will never be seen on television. But as the world comes together in London, they all matter.
Guor Marial is a 28-year-old marathon runner. He competed for a high school in New Hampshire before becoming an All-American at the University of Iowa State. He lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona. Marial may be the most compelling athlete at the London Olympic Games. He is definitely the most traveled.
You’re excused if you missed Marial at the opening ceremonies. He wasn’t there. Like us, he was watching the festivities on television. Marial was the last qualifier for the games, having successfully petitioned for inclusion. His invitation came just last week. There wasn’t enough time to deal with the paperwork to make the trip. Especially without a passport.
Guor was born 28 years ago in Sudan. That bit of bad fortune led to his being kidnapped and forced into a labor camp during the long Sudanese Civil War at age eight. He risked his life escaping successfully to Egypt and was subsequently granted asylum to the United States.
Marial was relocated to Concord, New Hampshire, where he took up running, broke the national high school two mile record and earned a scholarship to Iowa State. He ran an Olympic qualifying time in the marathon. Connected friends had been trying since October to get him into the games. On July 21st, they succeeded.
The would-be Olympian is not a United States citizen. He can’t run for us. He will not run for Sudan, which killed eight of his brothers and sisters and 28 members of his family in a civil war that claimed nearly three million lives over fifty years. Marial considers the newest nation on the planet, a result of that civil war, South Sudan, his home now. The country is barely a year old and doesn’t have an Olympic committee. They’ve been concerned with other things.
He’ll run in the marathon under the Olympic flag. An unlikely medalist, Marial could finish in the top twenty. He has one other goal in mind. That his parents, living in a South Sudan village without electricity, will get the chance to see him. He says they plan a 40 mile trek to another town to watch on television. Guor hasn’t seen his parents in twenty years.
While we justifiably cheer on Abby Wambach and Ryan Lochte, world class athletes with local roots, great aspirations and high hopes, Guor Marial provides a little perspective. He’ll run in the marathon under the Olympic flag. An unlikely medalist, Marial could finish in the top twenty.
He has another goal in mind. That his parents, living in a South Sudan village without electricity, will get the chance to see him. He says they plan a 40 mile trek to another town to watch on television. Guor hasn’t seen his parents in twenty years.
He is the man without a country. His is an effort we can all get behind.
