Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Back in 2001, there was a new addition to the Tully boys' cross country team who was leaving his competition in the dust: Lopez Lomong. Today, he’s getting ready to complete in the London Olympics.
We went into the NewsChannel 9 archives to find a story we did just a few months after Lomong arrived in the United States.
NewsChannel 9’s Steve Infanti caught up with Lomong in Tully in October 2001. He had arrived in the U.S. just three months earlier, but was already the top-ranked runner on the state's top-ranked team.
At the age of six, Lomong was thrown into a military camp in Sudan, but escaped two weeks later, running day and night until he reached the country of Kenya. There he spent more than nine years in a refugee camp running an average of 18 miles a day barefoot.
Foster parents Robert and Barbara Rogers took Lomong into their home in southern Onondaga County.
Back in 2001, Lomong said his goal was to become a U.S. Citizen and qualify for the Olympics. Today, he has done both.
He became a naturalized citizen in 2007 and carried the American flag as part of Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing.
When to watch Lopez Lomong in London
Round 1 of Lomong’s only 2012 Olympic event, the 5,000 meter, will be on Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 5:45 a.m. U.S. eastern time.
The final takes place on Saturday, Aug. 11 at 2:30 p.m.
