LONDON A refugee from Sudan's civil war who became a top distance runner after moving to the United States is fighting for last-minute permission to compete in the London Olympics as an independent athlete. 
 
 Guor Marial, 28, who was born in southern Sudan at the start of the conflict, would have liked to run the marathon for South Sudan, which became an independent country last year. 
 
 The world's newest country has not yet established a National Olympic Committee, however, so it cannot send a team to the Games, which open next week. 
 
 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suggested that Marial runs for Sudan, which has invited him to join their team, the runner told AlertNet, a humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. 
 
 Marial, who lost 28 members of his family in the war, has refused. 
 
 "I lost my family and relatives, and in South Sudan two million people died," he said by telephone from Flagstaff, Arizona, where he lives. 
 
 "For me to just go and represent Sudan is a betrayal of my country first of all, and is disrespecting my people who died for freedom." 
 
 South Sudan gained independence last July after a 2005 peace deal ended more than two decades of war between the mostly Christian south and Arab north. Tensions remain high following clashes in contested borderlands and rows over oil payments. 
 
 SERIOUS THREATS 
 
 Rights group Refugees International (RI) wrote to IOC President Jacques Rogge on Tuesday to request that Marial be allowed to compete as an independent under the Olympic flag. 
 
 "Numerous members of Mr Marial's family have been killed by Sudanese security forces, and he himself has suffered serious physical abuse at the hands of Sudanese police," RI President Michel Gabaudan wrote. 
 
 "The threats against him are serious and were recognized as such when he gained refugee status in the United States. Therefore, asking Mr Marial to submit once again to Sudanese authority as an Olympic athlete is not acceptable." 
 
 The IOC was not immediately available for comment. 
 
 Marial cannot race for the United States, even though he has permanent residency, because athletes have to be full citizens of the countries they represent. 
 
 In a marathon in San Diego, California, last month Marial ran a personal best, finishing in two hours 12 minutes 55 seconds. 
 
 "If I did get permission to run in London, the shape I'm in right now, I think I might be in the top 15 to 20," said the chemistry graduate, who works with people with mental disabilities when he is not training. 
 
 Marial left Sudan at the age of 14 following an attack when Sudanese soldiers entered his home at night. He was knocked unconscious when a soldier smashed his jaw with a rifle. 
 
 The athlete, who arrived in the United States when he was 16, said he appreciated Sudan's offer but it was impossible to accept. 
 
 "In my situation, the consequences of me representing Sudan are bigger than me going to the Olympics," he said in the interview late on Tuesday. 
 
 "At this level, as an athlete, I don't just represent my family, but the whole of South Sudan. It's a very heavy responsibility to carry. It's very important for me to make the right decision," he added. 
 
 "My dream is to represent South Sudan. It's just a matter of time." 
 
 (Reporting by Tim Large; Editing by Clare Fallon) ||||| The IOC will allow a marathon runner born in what is now South Sudan to compete under the Olympic flag at the London Games. 
 
 Great Britain supporters waving their flags ahead of their Olympic Men's friendly soccer match between Great Britain and Brazil at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, England, Friday, July. 20, 2012.... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Olympic flag flies over Downing Street in London, after being raised for the first time there this morning, Friday, July 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (Associated Press) 
 
 The IOC executive board agreed Saturday to allow U.S.-based Guor Marial to take part as an independent athlete. 
 
 The IOC says Marial has no passport and is not represented by a national Olympic committee. South Sudan gained independence last year after breaking away from Sudan. It doesn't yet have a recognized Olympic body. 
 
 Marial moved to the United States as a refugee when he was a child. He qualified for the Olympics by running a marathon in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 32 seconds in 2011. He has improved on that time since. 
 
 IOC spokesman Mark Adams says it is the first case of its kind at the Olympics.
– Root for Team USA, sure, but save a spot for Guor Marial, too. The marathon runner will compete as an independent athlete—a first—and run under the Olympic flag, reports the AP. The IOC made an exception given Marial's circumstances: He was born in southern Sudan but fled to the US as a teenager amid his nation's civil war, explains Reuters. He blossomed into a gifted runner, but the Arizona resident is ineligible for the US team because he's not a full citizen. South Sudan recently became an independent country, but it doesn't yet have an Olympic team. Sudan offered Marial a spot, but he declined on principle. "I lost my family and relatives, and in South Sudan 2 million people died," he told Thomson Reuters' AlertNet. "For me to just go and represent Sudan is a betrayal of my country first of all, and is disrespecting my people who died for freedom." An IOC spokesman says Marial's is the first such exception granted.