He was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. A young lad attempting to escape a violent conscription into an even more violent Sudanese militia, he trekked across the desert to reach a refugee camp in another country.
Somewhere along the line, he went from refugee to upstate New York high school track star to college track star to US Olympian.
Today, he is the US flag-bearer at the Beijing Olympics. An “up your nose with a rubber hose” message to the Chinese over their role in Darfur, perhaps, but he is the face of USA track and field in China and will be so for the next two weeks.
Lomong is not quiet in his opinion about what is happening in his homeland and is a member of the Team Darfur which opposes China’s support for the murderous regime in the Sudan. But unlike fellow Team Darfur Olympian, and Team Darfur President Joey Cheek – a member of the US speed skating contingent – Lomong is in Beijing. Cheeks was denied entry into China by the facist regime which is violating many facets of its agreements with the International Olympic Committee.
AP Writer Chris Bodeen wrote this week that “China has repeatedly objected to political disscussions during the games. Questioned about Lomong’s selection, Chinese official Cui Dalin reiterated Beijing’s stance that ’sports competition and politics are separate.”
While that sentiment runs very much in line with how I personally feel the Olympics should be conducted, the words run very much contrary to the actions of thin-skinned Chinese officials who are so afraid of Joey Cheeks that they will not allow him to compete. Our own officials, including the dunce George W. Bush, are too cowardly to speak up. Shame on them for lacking an American backbone.
btw – I’ve been told that my blog cannot be accessed from Beijing. Probably because there are no honorable Chinese officials in Beijing. But the man of immense honor is there, ready to stick his face into their small-dicked egos by performing well. A gold medal for Lopez Lomong is an improbable dream, but then too were the 1967 Red Sox.
Stick it to them, Lopez. And give them a piece of your mind once your event is over.
2 Comments
August 9, 2008 at 1:17 pm
sports and politics will NEVER be separated on the international platform. It just won’t happen.
August 10, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I think most wordpress.com blogs are blocked in China. Not sure though but read that somewehre, I know the Darfur blog is blocked.
ushy really wimped out I do give the athletes credit for making a statement of sorts by choosing Lomong.
My personal blog is getting a lot of hits from a a Chinese search engine “Baidu” an engine touted as the next google.
The searches weirdly are enough are under “cooper” not the blog name. I received so many hits from them one day I assumed they were trying to overload my servers and get me shut down. – got stay off those global voices boards. lol
As best as I can translate it it say hot amber next hot amber next to my name….lol