I admit I haven’t been paying attention to the Olympics, however there’s one event I went out of my way to watch, which just happens to be one of the final — the marathon.
Why choose this particular event? Two words: Guor Marial.
Marial is South Sudan’s first (unofficial) Olympian. Running under the Olympic flag as an independent athlete, most people recognize that he’s still representing South Sudan.
His story and journey to the Olympics, inspiring and a testament to the strength of the human spirit (as are so many stories of those from South Sudan), is well documented here and here.
Well worth a read.
And so myself and some friends spent our Sunday morning at brunch, with a restaurant full of people intently watching the tv, waiting for a glimpse of Marial.
It came when finally he crossed the finish line, a respectable 11 min behind the leader, and 47th overall, and the place erupted in cheers.
When I got home I discussed the event with my guard. In his words, “This is a great day for South Sudan. I think we shall celebrate today.”
Indeed.
Congratulations to Guor Marial!!
erininjuba 
I second that!
YAY! It’s been fun to follow his story here in the US. I’m happy that the IOC relented to let him run, even at the last minute. Great job, Guor!
I saw that! They did an interview with him on one of the coverage channels … BBC, perhaps. Very inspiring!
That’s awesome! Yeah, there’s a great interview with him from Sports Illustrated where he said that one of his biggest concerns from before the Olympics was his cell phone bill, because so many people wanted interviews it put him over his limit!
It’s stories like that which restore my faith in humanity a little though.
Pingback: Basically the Same | erininjuba