Lopez Lomong was born in a small village in South Sudan and quickly became a victim of the Second Sudanese Civil War. Abducted at age six, while attending Catholic Mass, he was assumed dead by his family and buried in absentia. Nearly dying in captivity, he was helped to escape by 3 friends from his village. The four of them ran for three straight days until they crossed the border into Kenya. Lomong would spend the next ten years of his life in a refugee camp near Nairobi before being moved to the United States. He was inspired to become a runner after watching Michael Johnson at the 2000 Summer Olympics on television, and later went on to represent the United States in the 1500 meter race after being selected by his teammates to carry the US flag into the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games.

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