FARK.com: (7226372) South Sudanese athlete will not let a little thing like his country not having an Olympic team to stop him from running in the Olympic marathon

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		South Sudanese athlete will not let a little thing like his country not having an Olympic team to stop him from running in the Olympic marathon (telegraph.co.uk)		14
		More: Spiffy, South Sudanese, Sudan, Bids for Olympic Games, London Olympics, The London Game, 1992 Summer Olympics, peace treaties

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1125 clicks; posted to Sports » on 22 Jul 2012 at 12:30 AM | Favorite | share:

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Bondith		2012-07-22 12:42:27 AM

If I was from South Sudan, I know I'd be highly motivated to be a runner so I could run away from South Sudan.

TheManofPA		2012-07-22 12:45:01 AM

Bondith: If I was from South Sudan, I know I'd be highly motivated to be a runner so I could run away from South Sudan.

They mentioned in the ESPN article that he is a top 10/20 runner so he is someone who could post a decent time (though he wasn't expecting/training to get in). It would be great if he could have the week of his life and somehow pull out a bronze (or be right in a photo finish top 5 situation).

JosephFinn		2012-07-22 01:06:05 AM

Much as the IOC is a bunch of corrupt assholes....this and the Antilles athletes all marching under the Olympic flag is pretty awesome.

TheManofPA		2012-07-22 01:11:41 AM

JosephFinn: Much as the IOC is a bunch of corrupt assholes....this and the Antilles athletes all marching under the Olympic flag is pretty awesome.

I would have thought those other guys would have marched under this banner
images.wikia.com

snake_beater		2012-07-22 01:59:20 AM

JosephFinn: Much as the IOC is a bunch of corrupt assholes....this and the Antilles athletes all marching under the Olympic flag is pretty awesome.

Rogue Squadron has their own country now?

/joke's been done before, I know

ongbok		2012-07-22 02:09:15 AM

First Poor Little Tink Tink gets his chance and now Poor Little No Country gets his. Good for the Olympics.

BruinsHockey		2012-07-22 04:04:38 AM

Does he run like the qwop guy?

czetie		2012-07-22 07:27:16 AM

Ironically, when the modern Olympics were revived, it was supposed to be as an antidote to the nationalism that plagued Europe at the time. It was intended that people would compete as individuals, not as representatives of their country or, worse, their country's pride; and that in meeting individual athletes from other countries, bonds of understanding and friendship that transcended national boundaries could be built.

That lasted all of one Games. By the second modern Olympiad, the ultra-nationalistic flag-fest of today was established.

WhyteRaven74		2012-07-22 07:47:15 AM

czetie: That lasted all of one Games. By the second modern Olympiad, the ultra-nationalistic flag-fest of today was established.

Well it wasn't ultra-nationalistic until a while after that. And these days, well you get one guess which country leads that pack.

rocky_howard		2012-07-22 08:01:27 AM

FTFA: The 28-year-old, who fled to the United States from Sudan at the age of eight after 28 members of his family were killed by the Sudanese government,

Dayum! He's a wicked good runner!

Foolkiller		2012-07-22 08:48:43 AM

So a poverty-stricken, drought-ridden, war-torn country that's existed for 2 years hasn't gotten around to creating an Olympic committee? Where are their priorities?

Evil Canadian		2012-07-22 10:19:27 AM

I'm glad that he is able to go - he has the times to qualify, just not a country, through no fault of his own (except for his incredible speed at running away from trouble!!). Good move IOC.

EngineerAU		2012-07-22 10:54:34 AM

czetie: That lasted all of one Games. By the second modern Olympiad, the ultra-nationalistic flag-fest of today was established.

I blame the lack of shooting wars. These days only poor countries fight each other for pride. Large countries can and do smack the small ones around but there's no national pride in doing that, it's just a means to hog some more resources. It's too expensive for everybody for two large wealthy countries to fight. Even without nukes, we're too skilled at destruction. The Olympics are a way for the modern nation-state to swing it's cock around establish a pecking order.

/Plus there's beach vollyball and table tennis