Wow. I think I just experienced my most amazing Olympic moment. Hopefully I can convey even just a fraction of the power and emotion behind everything I witnessed today.
We named our U.S. Team flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday night, and it’s track & field 1,500 meter runner Lopez Lomong. Lopez may just have one of the most inspiring and moving stories of anyone I’ve heard of, nonetheless had the honor of meeting.
My boss, Darryl, hosted Lopez in a press conference this morning where Lopez shared his story with 200 members of the press, all so enraptured you could hear a pin drop in the room. He talked for 30 minutes straight, staring out at the media and giving the most poignant details about his life and his journey. It just made all of our hearts melt. Here’s my attempt to recapture a little of it…
He was born in Sudan and had a modest but happy life with his family. At age 6, while attending “church” – a gathering around a tree – he and the other children were kidnapped and brought to a prison barracks where they were either poisoned or turned into children soldiers. He went into detail about how the soldiers would put sand in the small scraps of food they were given, so those kids who ate it would die in their beds when their little systems couldn’t digest anything. The older kids looked out for Lopez and told him only to eat the food by picking it apart grain by grain.
After three weeks, three older boys took him under their wing and planned an escape, saving his life even though he was so young and sure to hold them back. They crawled in a single file line to the perimeter of the barracks, pausing for long periods of time whenever they heard the guards quiet down for fear their rustling would give them away. They dug a hole under the fence and ran for their lives, with soldiers chasing them and bullets ricocheting around them. They were on the run for three days (they literally ran, all day long) and he said every night they slept facing the direction they were headed, so they wouldn’t get confused when they woke up and run back toward their captors or in circles. Eventually they crossed the Kenyan border, and he was sent to live in a refugee camp for 10 years.
After three weeks, three older boys took him under their wing and planned an escape, saving his life even though he was so young and sure to hold them back. They crawled in a single file line to the perimeter of the barracks, pausing for long periods of time whenever they heard the guards quiet down for fear their rustling would give them away. They dug a hole under the fence and ran for their lives, with soldiers chasing them and bullets ricocheting around them. They were on the run for three days (they literally ran, all day long) and he said every night they slept facing the direction they were headed, so they wouldn’t get confused when they woke up and run back toward their captors or in circles. Eventually they crossed the Kenyan border, and he was sent to live in a refugee camp for 10 years.
While in Kenya, his “family” of 10 in the refugee camp only got one meal a day, so they were constantly fighting hunger pains. To try to ignore the hunger, Lopez says he would play soccer with other kids, or they would go on runs. He says it was a source of distraction, as well as their “transportation.” He heard from someone about the Olympics and decided he was curious. He ran five miles to the only black-and-white TV in the area paid his life savings - five shillings - to watch Michael Johnson run at the 2000 Olympics, and Lopez decided he wanted to run just like him. Just a year later, the United Nations sponsored an adoption program for the “Lost Boys of the Sudan.” To be considered for selection, Lopez had to write an essay about his life and why he wanted to live in America. From there, he was chosen, and flown to a new family in a small town in New York at the age of 16.
Lopez says that his adoptive family in New York had to teach him everything anew, like he was a child. He talked about his parents taking him to a McDonald's straight from the airport, and how he couldn't believe how easy it was to order chicken! In the refugee camp, they only got it twice a year, and here he had a whole piece. He insisted on taking his leftovers to his new home with him. He described how showers have hot and cold knobs, but you have to get it just right in the middle. He said his first trip to a grocery store was so overwhelming he couldn't believe that the world had that much food.
Imagine now, the room full of media just hanging on his every word, people wiping tears from their eyes as they try to scribble down all of the amazing things he’s saying. No ones speaks for 30 minutes – they just listen. Lopez reminded us all what the Olympics are really about – not medal counts or air pollution or delegation heads bragging about their sports programs. It’s about the journey that all of these 10,000 athletes have made to get here, and bringing the world together to share in their stories and to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.
I’ve never participated in such a magical, emotional press conference before. It felt like everyone in the room was a part of something together. We cried and we laughed and overall, we just sat there… amazed, enraptured, captivated by Lopez Lomong.
Just last year, Lopez had the opportunity to return to Sudan and Kenya with a camera crew, and he was reunited with his family. Not only did they think he was dead, they had held a funeral for him and buried some of his favorite childhood items. With his mom and dad and brothers and at his childhood home, Lopez says they held a ceremony to “unbury me, and then I was alive again!”
But get this, the story gets even better!
So after the press conference, our USOC communications staff escorted Lopez back to the green room, where athletes and coaches wait before and after their press conferences. Those getting ready for the next press conference we had on the docket were waiting… the entire U.S. men’s basketball team.
As soon as we walked in, Coach K jumped up from his couch and came over to shake Lopez’s hand – he already knew his whole story. The guys on the team were spread throughout the room, lounging on couches and listening to their big headphones. Coach K said “Everyone, we are extremely lucky to be having the chance right now to meet our U.S. Team’s flag bearer.”
So Kobe and LeBron and Dwyane and Carmelo and Jason and group stand up and form a semi-circle around Lopez, giving him handshakes and hugs. And then everyone stands and stops their conversations, just as captivated as the media, and listens to Lopez tell his story once again. All 12 domineering NBA players stand at attention for 15 minutes and listen as Lopez recounts his life story. I’m not kidding – some of them were even emotional. There were more hugs after he finished his story – bigger, more personal hugs, with more meaning now, and nice words all around.
To witness these revered, famous, idolized 6’10” men mesmerized and in awe as they stood in silence and full respect before a skinny, 5’5” runner with a goofy, endearing smile, it was absolutely unbelievable. They were all so polite and genuinely moved, and in turn, Lopez was absolutely thrilled to meet them too.
I’m kind of emotionally drained right now, and yet, it’s 8.8.08! The big day is here! Somehow, somewhere, our staff has come up with a few Opening Ceremony tickets, so I get to go! I can’t wait!
I’ve never participated in such a magical, emotional press conference before. It felt like everyone in the room was a part of something together. We cried and we laughed and overall, we just sat there… amazed, enraptured, captivated by Lopez Lomong.
Just last year, Lopez had the opportunity to return to Sudan and Kenya with a camera crew, and he was reunited with his family. Not only did they think he was dead, they had held a funeral for him and buried some of his favorite childhood items. With his mom and dad and brothers and at his childhood home, Lopez says they held a ceremony to “unbury me, and then I was alive again!”
But get this, the story gets even better!
So after the press conference, our USOC communications staff escorted Lopez back to the green room, where athletes and coaches wait before and after their press conferences. Those getting ready for the next press conference we had on the docket were waiting… the entire U.S. men’s basketball team.
As soon as we walked in, Coach K jumped up from his couch and came over to shake Lopez’s hand – he already knew his whole story. The guys on the team were spread throughout the room, lounging on couches and listening to their big headphones. Coach K said “Everyone, we are extremely lucky to be having the chance right now to meet our U.S. Team’s flag bearer.”
So Kobe and LeBron and Dwyane and Carmelo and Jason and group stand up and form a semi-circle around Lopez, giving him handshakes and hugs. And then everyone stands and stops their conversations, just as captivated as the media, and listens to Lopez tell his story once again. All 12 domineering NBA players stand at attention for 15 minutes and listen as Lopez recounts his life story. I’m not kidding – some of them were even emotional. There were more hugs after he finished his story – bigger, more personal hugs, with more meaning now, and nice words all around.
To witness these revered, famous, idolized 6’10” men mesmerized and in awe as they stood in silence and full respect before a skinny, 5’5” runner with a goofy, endearing smile, it was absolutely unbelievable. They were all so polite and genuinely moved, and in turn, Lopez was absolutely thrilled to meet them too.
I’m kind of emotionally drained right now, and yet, it’s 8.8.08! The big day is here! Somehow, somewhere, our staff has come up with a few Opening Ceremony tickets, so I get to go! I can’t wait!
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