Rio Olympics 2016: Guor Marial has survived civil war, kidnappings and slavery to run for South Sudan in Olympic marathon
THE OLYMPIC Games are full of inspiring stories - but Guor Marial's may the most extraordinary of them all.
The South Sudanese marathon runner has survived a brutal civil war, been sold into slavery, lost 28 members of his family and been kidnapped TWICE.
But he arrived in the USA as a refugee and his talent for endurance running was spotted by teachers who encouraged him back into sport - despite the mental scarring of his horrendous past.
South Sudan gained it's independence in 2011 but those without a state who competed at London 2012 - including Marial - were registered as Independent Olympic Athletes.
This year in Rio, Marial led out the South Sudan team into the warmth of the Maracana as flag bearer for his country and will take on the world's best in the marathon.
Speaking of his long journey and love for his country, he said: "To stand on the start line wearing a South Sudan vest is amazing.
"A lot of people lost their lives for the freedom of the country we have now.
"That's what I run for and that's the reason I want to go and represent the flag."
South Sudan separated from Sudan in 2011 following a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of conflict between the government in Khartoum and rebels in the south.
The 32-year-old marathon runner was born in a village in the south at the start of the war, which claimed eight of his siblings.
When he was a boy his parents sent him to live with an uncle in Khartoum because it was safer. But it took three years to get there. At one point he was abducted and forced into servitude for a Sudanese soldier’s family.
Marial eventually fled Sudan in 1999 following a night-time attack by Sudanese soldiers on his uncle’s home. He was knocked unconscious when a soldier smashed his jaw with a rifle.
He escaped first to Egypt before moving to the United States in 2001 when he was 16.
In the lead-up to London, Olympic chiefs suggested Marial run for Sudan but he refused, saying it would be a betrayal of his country, his family and everyone who fought for independence.
After the London games Marial returned to his parents’ home in Unity State where they were reunited after two decades apart.
“It was overwhelmingly emotional,” Marial told the BBC. “My mum almost walked past me because she didn’t know who I was. Someone shouted and that’s when she saw me and collapsed out of shock.
“I knelt down, hugged her and lifted her up. She kept tapping me and saying, ‘Is it you, is it you?’"
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Along with his two marathon team-mates from South Sudan, there are five other athletes in Rio from the war-torn country who were plucked from refugee camps.
They compete in the Olympics' first refugee team, which has been set up to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis.
Despite not being a medal favourite, whatever the result of the marathon this Sunday Marial can be proud of how far he has come.