When he was at the London Olympics in 2012, Guor Marial didn’t even walk in the opening ceremony before running in the marathon. For the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, not only did Marial walk at Maracana Stadium last Friday in front of 78,000 spectators, he carried the flag for his native country of South Sudan.
The opening ceremonies are an entertainment spectacular, so it was only fitting that Marial, a 2005 Concord High graduate, had his own soundtrack playing in his head as he played his role in the extravaganza.
“This was the song running in my head yesterday as I walk into the olympic stadium carrying flag of my be loving South Sudan,” Marial wrote in a Facebook post Saturday that included a link to a video for Emmanuel Kembe’s Way of Freedom. “This song has huge influence in me and in everything I do for South Sudan. May peace come to South Sudan so that generation to come will not face the same darkness. Thank you Emmanuel Kembe for such inspiration song.”
The video mixes clips of a singing Kembe with some disturbing images of war, as well as soldiers, or, as Kembe refers to them, freedom fighters. Below are the opening lines to the song:
“Let us pray for our freedom fighters. I pray for those who fought and are fighting for the independence of our country.”
Marial certainly understands those words on a personal level. The civil war that raged for decades in Sudan and what is now South Sudan claimed 28 of his family members through violence, disease and hunger. It’s what forced him to flee Africa and, eventually, brought him to New Hampshire.
Marial tends to focus more on the possibility of peace than the fighting it takes to gain freedom, and the message of peace in Africa was definitely delivered during the opening ceremonies.
Kenya’s Kip Keino received the first ever Olympic Laurel award, given by the International Olympic Committee for his achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport. Keino, a middle- and long-distance runner who won two Olympic golds (1,500-meter race in 1968 and 3,000 steeplechase in 1972), accepted the award as he was accompanied by children flying 200 white kites which had earlier been inscribed with messages of peace by children in Kenya.
Marial finished 47th in the 2012 Olympic marathon when he ran as independent athlete under the IOC flag. He couldn’t run for South Sudan because the new country didn’t have its own Olympic committee, and his journey to London through layers of red tape became an international story.
Since then, South Sudan has formed an Olympic committee, but it was Marial’s experience in London that actually led him to Rio and will allow him to run in the marathon Aug. 21. He failed to run a qualifying time (2 hours, 19 minutes) for these Olympics, and after collapsing in the Gold Coast Airport Marathon in Australia on July 3 (he was suffering from hypoglycemia and didn’t finish the race), Marial thought his chances of running in Rio were done.
But in late July he announced that he would be returning to the Olympics, and on Tuesday he explained why via Facebook, which is his preferred form of communication.
“To my fellow South Sudanese athletes, I want to take this opportunity to clarify to you of my appointing to participate in this Olympic,” Marial wrote. “I’ve seen that some of you are very disappointed for being left out of the team and have wrote complains, which I completely understand. But I want to let you know that I was not selected by the South Sudan Athletic federation or by the South Sudan National Olympic committee. I was given exception by the IAAF and the IOC because of my previous participation in the 2012 Olympic.”
He also addressed some of the bitter feelings that have apparently arisen because of his selection.
“Please don’t feel so betrayed because I came and you didn’t. Also, we all have to realized that none of us made a qualifying time for the Olympic. And without qualifying time, our case against the athletic federation is meaningless … What we all need to do going forward is focus on achieving qualify standard for next international events,” Marial wrote. “And if South Sudan Athletic Federation left us out of the team after that, then we will have strong case to fight for. Also, we must understand the IAAF and the IOC selection rules. That will helps us much as on how to deal with the federation. Please don’t lose your hope or dream of representing South Sudan or your second nation if you wish to do so. My great wishes to all of you on your trainings.”
While there may be some hard feelings, what Marial truly inspires is positivity and hope, as expressed by Natasha Salaash in this Facebook post which also contained a picture of Marial carrying the South Sudan flag in the opening ceremonies.
“Guor Miading Miaker (the name Marial uses on Facebook) representing South Sudan in the Olympics!!!,” Salaash, a Facebook friend of Marial, wrote. “He is an inspiration to me and I’m sure all children who have grown up in war. No matter what happens he’s won in my books.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)