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 Re: Lomong escapes Sudan horror to chase Olympic dream (Re: بكرى ابوبكر)
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Lomong escapes Sudan horror to chase Olympic dream
Sudaneseonline.com
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Lomong escapes Sudan horror to chase Olympic dream
Lopez Lomong
EUGENE, Oregon (AFP) — Lopez Lomong has already visited his own grave, run for his life from Sudan's Janjaweed militia, survived 10 years at a refugee camp and reunited with his parents after 16 years as a "Lost Boy".
Now he's only three races from overcoming a nightmare and achieving the dream that changed his life - running in the Olympics.
"It would mean a lot," Lomong said. "Coming from Sudan and raised all by myself, I didn't know what this really means. My goal is just winning the gold medal. This right here is a dream for a long time."
A year after becoming a US citizen, Lomong opens his 1,500 bid here Thursday in quarter-finals at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials, hoping to reach Friday's semi-final and Sunday's final for three spots at the Beijing Olympics.
"I was just one of the 'Lost Boys'. Now I'm an American," Lomong said. "I can compete for the country I want like a payback to all the people who helped me. I want to say, 'Thank you.'"
Lomong missed an Olympic spot at 800 meters by .11 of a second in an event he entered just to test himself for the 1,500.
"It helps. I finished my 800 and I felt very fresh," he said. "I just wanted to do some rounds. I didn't make the team, but I wanted to see what my speed was. It really helped me a lot."
In 2000, Lomong walked five miles from his northern Kenya refugee camp and paid five shillings, then a feast-worthy sum, to watch the Sydney Olympics on a black and white television.
"I was so impressed," Lomong said. "I was watching Michael Johnson and I saw him run so fast (to win 400 gold) and I thought I wanted to run like that. That's what woke up my dream."
Lomong, who now wears diamond earrings, was in church at age six when the militia kidnapped about 50 children from his village of Kimotang. He spent three weeks in a military camp until three other children helped him escape.
After running three days through the wilderness, evading soldiers and wild animals, they reached Kenya and were sent to a refugee camp.
"Running saved my life," Lomong said. "Now I am able to run for fun."
Life as a refugee was anything but fun.
"The ultimate goal for me was to survive," Lomong said. "You have to get your own food. You have to work your own way out just to survive. My chore was cleaning out the compound, washing the utensils.
"You get one meal a day. On the weekend we ran and played soccer, to get your mind off the fact you need a snack - in the US now I can't go without breakfast. When I grew up I was taking care of other kids like a family."
In 2001 he wrote an essay about his story and was among 3,800 youth selected to be sent to US foster families.
"Thinking about the United States, it seemed like heaven," Lomong said.
Another surprise came last December when he was reunited with his family after 16 years.
"It was my faith that kept my hope alive. I didn't even have a picture of my family. I kept hope," Lomong said. "My family was, 'We thought you were dead.' I told them, 'I thought you were dead.'"
Lomong's mother lives in Nairobi while his father works the farm in Kimotang and his sister and two younger brothers travel safely now between the areas, something Lomong did to see his own grave and undergo a ritual "revival".
"They thought there was no way I would be back again. They did the funeral for me," Lomong said. "I went to the graveyard. They had this pile of some stones. They had to 'dig me out.' They had to 'bring me back to life'."
Lomong hopes his parents will be able to see him in Beijing if he qualifies now that he has explained that his running is a big deal.
"In Africa, if you play soccer, you are a big-time person. Everybody runs there," he said. "Running is part of life. It's like driving a car here."
Lomong knows of the protests against China for its support of the Sudan government and militias such as the one which took him from his home, but is more concerned with people than governments.
"It's not what's going on between the Sudan government and the Chinese government. It's about what's happening with the people," Lomong said.
"That's a political thing. All I'm worried about are the kids who are dying in Darfur. The kids don't have the dream they could be Olympic athletes or doctors. I want those kids to reach what their dreams are."
If he achieves his dream atop a medal stand at Beijing, Lomong's thoughts will be on the children of Sudan.
"It will be on my mind because I'm wanting the people's well being," he said. "We need to send the message as athletes that all we want is for kids in Darfur to be safe and reunited with their families."
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بكرى ابوبكر
الطيب رحمه قريمان
Deng
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست