Why Toowoomba should back this Olympic running legend

After fleeing war torn Sudan Peter Bol’s family settled in Australia. Fast forward a few years – Bol’s Olympic story has captivated the nation and Toowoomba has played a key role.

ON TRACK: Australia’s Peter Bol (left) in the semi-final of the Tokyo Olympic Men's 800m. Bol’s family first settled in Toowoomba after fleeing war torn Sudan. Picture: Getty Images

PETER Bol is the Olympic athlete Toowoomba residents probably don’t know they should be supporting – regardless of his efforts in the Tokyo men’s 800m final.

It was in the Garden City where Bol refined his English and became accustomed to the Australian way of life.

Even without his athletic pursuits Bol’s life story is a remarkable one.

Born in Khartoum, Sudan, in 1994, Bol’s family fled the war torn region for the relative safety of Egypt.

“Our father had in his mind to just get us out of whatever situation we were in to a better place,” Peter’s brother Michael told The Australian.

“There are two journeys as a refugee from Sudan – you either go through Kenya where you probably walk, but we went through Egypt.

“The anxiety is the same, if not worse.”

After six years in Egypt the family were granted an Australia visa and eventually settled in Toowoomba and the flight to their new home was a challenge in itself.

No one ate any food on the plane because it didn’t look like food to us,” Michael said.

“You got a fork and a spoon – what the hell was this? In Cairo, we had no access to that. We ate off our plate with our hands.”

Four years after settling in the Garden City the family moved to Perth where Bol took the first steps toward his Olympic dream.

He joined St Norbert College on a basketball scholarship and the discovery of his running talent came about purely by chance.

Teacher Helen Leahy was looking to fill spots in the school’s inter-house athletics carnival and Bol was dropped in.

He dominated the 400m race winning by 80m and produced an equally impressive performance in the 800m.

A few years later he linked with fellow 800m runner Joseph Deng, moved to Melbourne and began working with legendary running coach Justin Rinaldi and the rest is history.

RACE TIME: The final of the 800m men’s race starts at 10.05pm, Wednesday August 4.