Guor Mading Maker, a former “Lost Boy” of Sudan who made history by competing in the 2012 Olympic Games as an “Independent Athlete” under the Olympic flag, is hoping to represent South Sudan at the 2016 Olympic Games, and is seeking support via crowdfunding to help get him there.

Mading Maker is hoping to raise $25,000 via the website GoFundMe that would go toward funding his training for the next two years, and also help him realize his goal of helping train South Sudan’s next generation of runners.

Mading Maker is planning to move to Iten, Kenya next month to train at altitude with some of the world’s best runners. He would like to bring five or six promising South Sudanese runners with him to help them focus on training and get high-level coaching.

He hopes to choose the South Sudanese athletes by holding a selection race between January and March 2015, but notes that the country is “facing a lot of challenges right now,” and that planning such an event will take time.

Though the arrangement has not been finalized, Mading Maker is hoping that he and the South Sudanese athletes will be coached by Patrick Kipsang, who trains Olympic Marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich and Chicago Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge. “It would be an honor to work with him,” Mading Maker told Runner’s World Newswire.

Other professional track and field athletes have used creative means to support their training in the past. Leo Manzano sold t-shirts to support himself earlier this year, when he was without a sponsor. Shot putter Adam Nelson auctioned off space on his competition uniform on eBay. Nick Symmonds sold space for a temporary tattoo on his shoulder via eBay.

While crowdfunding has been utilized to fund the training of athletes in other sports, with sites like RallyMe, Dreamfuel, and Pursuit focusing specifically on high-level athletes, track and field athletes had not used the crowdfunding model as much, until earlier this year, when the track and field-centric web site AthleteBiz launched, allowing supporters to directly fund U.S. track and field athletes.

Adding fuel to Mading Maker’s quest was yesterday’s announcement by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that South Sudan has gained provisional IAAF membership with “full rights and obligations.” This means that, if selected, Mading Maker will be eligible to represent South Sudan at next summer’s World Championships.

Mading Maker wrote on his crowdfunding web page early this morning in response to the news, “It's 3:45 a.m. Arizona time and I can't fall asleep because of joy of the great news that South Sudan is finally been granted full membership of IAAF today! I can't stop smiling. That's a huge step in South Sudan history.”

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, but is still not a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a requirement for a country to send representatives to the Games. Mading Maker is hopeful that South Sudan will earn membership by 2016, but according to a press release issued by Bill Gallagher, director of the film Runner Without a Country, about Mading Maker’s life, running under the Olympic flag may be an option again in 2016, if necessary.

Mark Adams of the IOC told Gallagher, “[Mading Maker’s] an inspirational athlete with an inspirational story – and we look forward to seeing him being able to compete for his country one day. Until then we warmly welcome him under the Olympic flag,”

Mading Maker ran the 2012 Olympic Marathon with a singlet bearing the acronym IOA, for Independent Olympic Athlete, becoming the first person to do so. He finished 47th in 2:19:32.

Mading Maker, who has used the last name Marial in the past, was born in South Sudan, but escaped from the country in 1993 after he and his family members suffered atrocities, which he doesn’t like to speak about. He found refuge in Concord, New Hampshire, where his uncle lived, and later earned an athletic scholarship to Iowa State University.

Mading Maker was extended an invitation to compete for Sudan in the 2012 Olympic Games, but declined because he felt it wasn’t appropriate to represent a country in which so many people had suffered, and from which he sought refuge. Twenty-eight of Mading Maker’s family members, including eight of his 10 brothers and sisters, died as a result of Sudan’s civil war.

In February 2013, Mading Maker was granted U.S. citizenship, making him a dual citizen of the United States and South Sudan. While he could technically represent the United States in international competition, he has no plans to do so.

“The decision to represent South Sudan won because of the great need for peace and stability by me and by my people in South Sudan," Mading Maker wrote in an email to Newswire. "We have been in a long life of suffering and we have lost millions of lives due to civil war. Majority of the generations before me, my generation, and the generations after me have never had childhood experience because of war. As the son and a citizen of South Sudan, I strongly felt that I must bring my athletic skills to South Sudan to help build peace in the country.”

For Mading Maker, a 2:12:55 marathoner, running is not a particularly lucrative career, but he continues to pursue his dreams partially because it gives him the opportunity to raise awareness about causes that are important to him.

“I feel as a citizen of the South Sudan and the U.S., it’s my responsibility to turn this negative for a positive by promote peace through sports,” Mading Maker told Newswire. “I want to give hope to refugees, stateless, and homeless around the world that there is a tomorrow. Don’t give in on a dark day because the greatness is yet to come. Work hard, believe in yourself, have a faith, be positive about life, and know that there are kind people out there thinking about you.”

Related:

'Lost Boy' Hopes to Run Under Olympic Flag

'Lost Boy' and 2:12 Marathoner Guor Marial to Become U.S. Citizen

New U.S. Elite Guor Marial Bears Lessons of Difficult Upbringing

Film to Profile 'Lost Boy' and 2:12 Marathoner Guor Marial

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