Sudanese Catholic Refugee Realizes Olympic Dream

As a "lost boy of Sudan", Mr Lomong was one of thousands of children abducted from their homes by guerrilla factions looking to train them as soldiers.

BEIJING (The Catholic Herald) - A Sudanese refugee has fulfilled his dream by competing in the Olympic Games.

Lopez Lomong, a devout Catholic who resettled in New York, reached the semi-final of the men's 1,500-metre competition.

As a "lost boy of Sudan", Mr Lomong was one of thousands of children abducted from their homes by guerrilla factions looking to train them as soldiers.

He escaped through a hole in the fence and ran for days all the way to Kenya. He spent 10 years in a refugee camp before being adopted by a New York family through a United Nations programme. He started cross-country running at high school and was named team captain for three years in a row.

After graduation he went to Northern Arizona University because he believed it would improve his chances of realising his Olympic dream.

He qualified for the 1,500-metre run by finishing third in Olympic trials in July. When he heard the news he told his foster parents: "When you put God first in your life, anything is possible."

His teammates on the American Olympic team chose him to carry the United States flag during the opening ceremony on August 8.

Mr Lomong's athletics coach at Tully High School, Jim Paccia, said that his determination inspired the other runners on the team.

"Lopez's drive was internal. All the other guys on the team realised that and they stepped it up," Mr Paccia told the New York Catholic Sun newspaper. When runners complained about a challenging run, he said he reminded them about Mr Lomong's own struggles in Sudan.

Mr Paccia said Mr Lomong described his escape from the Sudanese camp and then seeing his name among those chosen to go to the United States as "his two signs from God".

"He thought he was dead in that camp," Mr Paccia said. "When he saw his name on that list and knew that he was going [to a new] home, that was a turning point."

In addition to competing in the Olympics, Mr Lomong has been a member of Team Darfur, a coalition of international athletes committed to raising awareness about the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan.

"When we were in Africa, we didn't know what was there for us as kids - we just ran," Mr Lomong said. "God was planning all of this stuff for me, and I didn't know. Now I'm using running to get the word out about how horrible things were back in Sudan during the war."

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