Guor Marial

Maker left home at the age of seven to live with his uncle in northern Sudan. While 28 members of his family were killed during the conflict, 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. However, he returned to South Sudan in 2013 and was reunited with his parents. He began participating in track and field while attending high school in Concord, New Hampshire, after being encouraged by his gym teacher. He also competed in college at Iowa State, where he was an All-American 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. 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. 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." 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." However, his travel documentation did not reach him in time, and so he could not march in the opening ceremony on 27 July. 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 in the marathon. At the opening ceremony, he was the flag-bearer for South Sudan. 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 on 2 February 2018. He was selected for the United States Air Force World Class Athlete Program. He is currently a dental technician with the 21st Dental Squadron. ==References==