As a young boy living in Kenya, Lopez Lomong took one quick peek at the American flag every night before he went to bed. The image was on a rustic sack that supplied the one meal a day he was allowed starting at the age of six.

"It's tough - one meal a day," Lomong said. "We boiled our corn, which was actually from America. We ate it at midnight, and then we stayed the whole day and the whole night and ate it again at midnight. We conditioned ourselves to be able to eat one meal a day. We did that for a decade."

Today, the American flag represents everything Lomong has overcome in his life.

Last August, Lomong rose above numerous obstacles to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games in Track and Field, and he was elected by his athletic peers as the official flag-bearer of the Opening Ceremony.  He was to carry the American flag into the Bird's Nest to lead the entire U.S. delegation. 

"That's what America is all about," Lomong said. "They basically chose somebody according to the things that he overcame. I overcame a lot of obstacles in my life, and it's a long journey that I took. They don't see how decorated I am as far as medals, but they see what kind of issues I've overcome."

Although he proudly represented the stars and stripes, Lomong did not receive his U.S. citizenship until 2007.

"They said this is a flag you've never had in your life, here you go," Lomong said about being the flag bearer. "It's a great honor and I will never forget about that moment. I will never forget about my colleagues and my peers in the Olympics."

However, it was a grueling journey of 23 years to reach that point of pride.

When Lomong was just six-years-old, there was a civil war going on in his home village of Kimotong, Sudan.

"We always had food on the table at the right time and things like that," Lomong said. "I didn't even know there was something going on until one time in the morning when it just changed my life."

And boy, did it change his life.

Lomong was taken to the barracks with the other children, where he saw many of his friends die due to the poor living conditions.

"There were about 100 of us under one roof," Lomong said. "We didn't have good water. We didn't have good food. They fed us what was like grains with sand. It doesn't digest in your stomach."

Eventually, some friends came to rescue Lomong and two other children.

"We saw a hole in the fence, and they came to me right away and said, 'Tonight, you are going to go see your mom again.' I was so happy."

But Lomong and his friends did not want to wake up the other 97 children, and therefore had to escape quickly and quietly.

"In the middle of the night I felt someone grabbing my hand and he was opening the door and they led me through," Lomong said. "We just crawled and went through the fence, and then we just kept running ... Three days, three nights. And when we were sleeping a little bit, we went about 10 feet away from the path we were in, and we faced what direction we would be going in the morning."

After three nights, Lomong found himself separated from his family in a refugee camp in Kenya that was led by Catholic missionaries. He stayed there for 10 years as one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," until he was moved to Tully, N.Y., where he was adopted by a foster family. Upon arrival in New York, one of the first things he told his parents was that he wanted to compete in the Olympic Games - this coming less than a year after he witnessed Michael Johnson win the 400-meter run at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

"I wanted to wear that same uniform and run as fast as that guy," Lomong said of Johnson.

Following high school, Lomong went on to become a star middle-distance runner at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he was an All-American and won the NCAA Indoor 3,000-meter title and the NCAA Outdoor 1,500-meter crown.

Meanwhile, in 2007, Lomong went to Nairobi, where he was re-united with his mother for the first time. When he arrived, he met Alex and Peter, two younger brothers he never knew he had.

"I got to see my mother again," Lomong said with a smile. "I thought she was already dead. And my dad came over too, so it was fantastic."

And being the compassionate human he is, the first thing Lomong asked himself is how he could help the people he met. He returned to Kimotong, where he observed the remnants of his early childhood.

"I looked at where I was taken away from, and I looked at the kids playing and things like that ... and I said I'd like to start a school."

Today, Lomong's school - the first ever started in the village - has more than 400 students, including some who commute from other villages nearby. The track star bought uniforms from Kenya to distribute to the students, and continues to collect old shoes to send over to those in need.

Last December, Lomong returned to see how everyone was doing.

"Every time they see me go there - oh, it's crazy. They come over and hold my hand. They think that I'm different now."

Although the school is still limited for supplies and one of the classes has to take place outside under a tree, Lomong is beginning to see his dreams come true.

 "I saw this little young girl come into school at 7 a.m." Lomong said. "I look at her and thought, 'Wow, you make my heart beat...Wow, these people want to go to school.'"

En route to Beijing, Lomong believes he also achieved another one of his goals - sportsmanship.

"It's not only the sport," Lomong said about competing on the track. "You have to have sportsmanship to compete. If I lose a race right now, I don't put my head down and say it's the end of the world, I always use that as my encouragement and to do the best the next day."

The 24-year-old placed 12^th in the 1,500m in Beijing and made it to the semifinals. Although Lomong suffered from hamstring problems during the Games, he couldn't ask for anything more.

"I enjoyed the whole Olympic experience," Lomong said. "I worked so hard to make that team, and I made that team to represent a country."

And he can only hope that his sportsmanship and spirit both on and off the track will pass on to those he's encountered in the past.

"A lot of kids that I left behind in the camp saw me carrying the flag because everybody watches the Opening Ceremony," Lomong said.

For Lomong, life is about never giving up and always working together with others to accomplish more. As he begins to prepare for this year's World Championships, he believes his career on the track is still blooming and he wants to see someone from his school graduate college in the future.

Lomong carried the flag in Beijing, but that was just a launching pad for the rest of his life.

"There are more dreams to be achieved," Lomong said.

Tags: 2008 Olympic Games, USA Track and Field