LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
When Lopez Lomong leads the United States team into the opening ceremony Friday night as the flagbearer, he knows he will be a symbol for so many issues hovering over Beijing’s Games, but he hopes he can be something else above all: an inspiration.
Lomong as a child was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, kidnapped from his family at 6 years old by soldiers before escaping to a Kenyan refugee camp. Having made the United States Olympic team in track’s 1,500 meters, Lomong was selected by American athletes to carry the flag for the team, a vote fraught with meaning. Lomong is a member of Team Darfur and wants people to know about the humanitarian crisis in the country of his birth.
But he also wants people to know that his Olympic dream started in 2000, when he walked five miles from a refugee camp in Kenya to watch the Sydney Olympics on a black and white television. He watched Michael Johnson win the gold medal in the 400 meters and it gave him a dream.
“I come here to inspire kids who are out there watching this Olympics, as I did watching the Sydney Olympics,” Lomong said. “All the countries and all the nations are out there watching. I’m very honored to be here and I am very honored to lead the American team into the opening ceremony.
“I don’t even have a word for it. I am just so happy and so proud.”
The 23-year-old Lomong became an American citizen in 2007, after having been adopted by an American family in Tully, N.Y., when he was 16. He re-told the story of his escape from the soldiers who kidnapped him and dozens of other children when his family was attending church one Sunday morning when he was 6. He spent 10 years in the Kenyan refugee camp before writing an essay about his life for missionaries who were working to find homes for many of the boys. Robert and Barbara Rogers took him into their home and Lomong began his new life.
But he always remembered that vision of watching Johnson win his race at the 2000 Olympics.
“I said, ‘I want to run fast like that and I want to run for that country,’” Lomong said. “Running is what we do all our lives. It is part of our transportation. So to see people watch somebody run and cheer for him. I thought, wow, that is amazing.”
He became an elite middle-distance runner, making his Olympic dream come true with a third-place finish in the 1,500 meters at the United States Olympic trials.
The captains of all of the Olympic teams gathered on Wednesday to choose the flagbearer. Lomong’s choice was applauded by United States Olympic Committee officials.
“It’s a great global story but it is also a great American story,” said Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S.O.C.
Asked if he thought the athletes chose Lomong as a subtle way of protesting China’s support for the Sudanese government, Ueberroth said he did not know, but said, “Either way, it’s fine. Either way, it’s good.”
Lomong declined to expound upon his thoughts about China and Sudan, saying he wanted to be a good ambassador, but he said he was disappointed that China had revoked the visa for Team Darfur’s founder, Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek, to come to Beijing for the Games.
“He is supposed to be here,” Lomong said. “He is an Olympian. He is supposed to tell people about the situation. At the Games, I am here as an athlete and to represent my country. I am here to be an ambassador for my country. I lived in that life before. That’s why I am a member of Team Darfur. The Olympics are supposed to bring people together. It’s a peaceful event. I’m looking forward for that.”
He said he also hoped he could change the life of some child watching on some black and white television somewhere in the world.
The opening ceremonies were fantastic, weren’t they?
They were simply amazing. I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. Each new performance was better than the one before. I love the gymnastics. We watched some of the US women’s team last night.