ATHLETES from South Sudan

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary South Sudanese Athletes of all time. This list of famous South Sudanese Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Guor Marial (1984 - )

With an HPI of 24.54, Guor Marial is the most famous South Sudanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

Guor Mading Maker (born 15 April 1984), also known as Guor Marial, is a South Sudanese Olympic track and field athlete. He is a Dinka tribesman. Maker competed in the men's marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Due to the civil war that saw South Sudan split from Sudan, he has refused to compete under the flag of the latter, stating, "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. Maker competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics for South Sudan, the country's first appearance at an Olympic Games. A film has been made of his life called Runner.

2. Lopez Lomong (1985 - )

With an HPI of 20.96, Lopez Lomong is the 2nd most famous South Sudanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Lopez Lomong (born January 5, 1985) is a South Sudanese-born American track and field athlete. Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, came to the United States at the age of 16 and became a U.S. citizen in 2007. Lomong qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 1500 meters at the United States Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon. He was the flag bearer for the United States during the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony. He is currently a member of Team Darfur, a group of athletes urging China to exert pressure on the Sudanese government to address the War in Darfur. Lomong's autobiography, Running for My Life, was published in 2012, co-written with Mark Tabb.