Free Republic

BEIJING -- Just when it seemed that nothing good could pierce the gloomy, gray haze that stifles this city, just when the U.S. Olympic Committee set the bar of foolishness and political expediency higher than any gold medalist will ever jump, a story comes along to remind the world that the Olympics, though appallingly commercialized, still have great redemptive power. The captains of the U.S. teams participating in the Beijing Games soared above the pettiness of their elders Wednesday when they chose 1,500-meter runner Lopez Lomong, a Sudanese refugee who was abducted from his church at age 6 and targeted...

This is an amazing and heartwarming story about a Sudanese 'lost boy' who escaped death, was saved by Catholic Charities, fulfilled his dream of becoming an American citizen and is now representing America on the Olympic track team. Lopez Lomong ran to save his life one night when he was just a boy. And now he's running to represent the country he loves and to thank his foster parents and the Catholic Charities workers who helped save him. It's not likely the pressure of the Olympics will get to Lopez Lomong. He has, after all, visited his own grave. Seventeen...