Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
Lopez Lomong - From Lost Boy To The Olympics
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December 27, 2018
9 minutes
Available for over a year
In 2008, former refugee Lopez Lomong carried the flag for the USA at the Beijing Olympics, before competing in the 1500 metres. As a child, Lomong fled from a prison for child soldiers in South Sudan, eventually reaching a refugee camp in Kenya where he was one of the thousands of so-called “Lost Boys”. Lomong was later adopted by an American family, who encouraged his dream to reach the Olympic Games. In 2017, he talked to Simon Watts.
PHOTO: Lopez Lomong in 2008 (Getty Images)