Lopez Lomong

"Who's that?" was my husband's response when I told him I had just finished watching a video about Lopez Lomong and his American family. When I know an athlete and Pedro doesn't, there must be a good reason! Lomong happens to be a former Lost Boy of Sudan with an amazing story.

Kidnapped at gun point at merely six years old, he escaped captivity and ran with other boys for three days until they crossed the border into Kenya. There Lomong spent 10 years in a refugee camp. At age 16 he was sponsored to come to the United States and into the home of a family in New York state. This family then went on to welcome five more boys from Sudan, all of them athletes and several now in college.

Most amazing of all, the young boy who ran for his life now runs for the United States in the Beijing Olympics. I am hoping to catch one of his races on television, with Owen at my side!

Click on this link to read his story and be sure to watch the video as well!

"And I got the privilege of being the person that represented America to that family when they came here, and then as each one of (the Sudanese) boys came, I was the guy who took them by the hand and led them to America," he said. "That's an extreme privilege to be in that position in someone's life where you'll be remembered by that person for the rest of their lives as the person who represented America to them." - Robert Rogers, Lomong's American dad