South Sudanese marathoner will run at Olympics after lobbying by Shaheen - The Hill (blog)

A Sudanese refugee living in the United States will be allowed to compete in the Olympics after Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) lobbied the International Olympic Committee to allow him to run in the marathon event.

Guor Marial was born in what is now South Sudan, a country that became an independent state in 2011 after a peace agreement reached following the second Sudanese civil war. As a child, Marial escaped a labor camp and took permanent residency in the United States as a child. But under IOC rules, Marial would have only been able to compete as a representative of the Sudanese regime from which he fled. 

That's because the IOC prevents non-citizens from competing for other nations, and the fledgling South Sudanese government has not yet set up their own national committee.

But the IOC ruled Saturday that Marial would be allowed to compete under the Olympic flag at the event, one of four athletes participating under that distinction. 

Shaheen, who wrote a letter lobbying IOC president Jacques Rogge earlier this week to allow Marial to participate, applauded the decision in a statement Saturday. 

"The Olympics is about bringing people together, it's about international cooperation and fierce competition," said Shaheen. "I am glad that Guor Marial will have a chance to run alongside the world's best athletes this summer in London. His story of perseverance in the face of adversity is inspirational and what the Olympics is all about. He has made New Hampshire very proud and I look forward to cheering him on as he competes under the great Olympic flag."

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