Guor Marial

Guor Marial Biography

Guor Marial is a famous Marathon Runner, who was born on April 15, 1984 in South Sudan. Marial finished 47th in the marathon, with a time of 2:19:32. His personal best is 2:12:55. According to Astrologers, Guor Marial's zodiac sign is Aries.

Maker competed in the men’s marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Due to civil war that saw South Sudan split from Sudan, he has refused to compete under the flag of the latter, stating that, “It would be betraying my people”. He was one of four athletes competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics under the Olympic flag rather than that of an individual country.

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. Marial’s case was called “unique” by the IOC, 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. He holds permanent resident status in the United States, but not citizenship. According to his interview in Runner’s World, He applied for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen in 2011 and had his naturalization interview, but his application remains pending: “Technically, I was supposed to be a citizen last June, because I did everything, I did my citizen test, I did my interview, I did my fingerprint, and everything was all set. All I needed to do was go to their office and get my passport and do the ceremony. That was in June 2011, but there has been a security background check…and that’s what took everything longer.”

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.