Former Sudan ‘lost boy’ headed to London, then Africa after Olympic games
EUGENE, Oregon– After qualifying Thursday night for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team in the men’s 5,000 meters, former Sudan Lost Boy Lopez Lomong now has his sights set on a gold medal in London at The Olympic Summer Games.
At the age of six, Lopez was kidnapped from his Southern Sudan village and held captive for three weeks as he was being prepped as a child soldier.
Too small to undergo training, his fate would most likely have been starvation. But after three weeks, he managed to escape with the help of three other captives.
After running three days and nights, they were captured by Kenyan troops and brought to a refugee camp where Lopez lived for 10 years.
He was sponsored by a U.S. family and brought to this country where he soon discovered he was the fastest kid in school. At track meets he then discovered he was the fastest in the state.
Soon he would become one of the fastest in the nation. In 2008, Lomong qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the men’s 1,500 meters. He was voted by his teammates as the flag bearer in the Opening Ceremonies. Four years later, the young man who had so much taken from him – wants to give something back to the children of South Sudan.