A former Lost Boy of Sudan leads the U.S. team into the opening ceremony

BEIJING: Lopez Lomong, who led the U.S. team into the opening ceremony Friday night as the flag-bearer, knew he would be a symbol for so many issues hovering over Beijing's Games, but he hoped he could be something else above all: an inspiration. As a child, Lomong was one of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan, kidnapped by soldiers from his family at the age of 6 before escaping to a Kenyan refugee camp. Now on the U.S. Olympic team as a 1,500-meter runner, Lomong was selected by U.S. athletes to carry the flag for the team, a vote that is 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 eight kilometers, or five miles, from a refugee camp in Kenya to... [read full story]