00:00 This move is Lopez Lamont! My goodness! This young man has come so far!
00:04 He's an Olympic finalist.
00:05 Lopez Lamont won 3000 meter race.
00:08 His dream? Reunite with the family he lost 16 years ago.
00:12 His background, it makes him tougher.
00:14 He's seen things that none of the other kids seen before.
00:16 You run for joy. You run for this nation.
00:18 You're just running away from bullets.
00:22 Kids were dying every day.
00:24 They took us from our family.
00:25 They give you a gun and they say, "Okay, if you see somebody, pull the trigger."
00:28 And that was a moment that I lost my childhood.
00:31 The soldiers came out with their guns yelling at everybody to lay down.
00:34 My mom was running to go rescue me and she grabbed me so close to her.
00:38 The soldier came in and ripped me from her.
00:42 This guy is incredible.
00:43 We just started running, running for our lives.
00:45 He's definitely going to win the Olympics.
00:47 My legs saved me from death.
00:48 Lopez Lamont was one of thousands who became known as the Lost Boys of the Sudan.
00:53 I never had any food along the way.
00:54 Getting to the Olympics was all about breaking barriers.
00:57 Hopefully I can be able to see my mom again.
00:59 What happened to your mother?
01:00 I was six years old when my life completely changed.
01:04 The soldiers came out with their guns yelling at everybody to lay down.
01:08 My mom grabbed me so hard as we are going and we are laying down on the ground.
01:13 And she grabbed me so tightly, so close to her.
01:16 The soldier came in and ripped me from her.
01:20 And as he dragged me, my mom was running to rescue me.
01:25 The soldiers just draw his weapon and said, "One more step, I'll shoot."
01:28 And that was a moment that I lost my childhood.
01:33 And that's when my struggle began.
01:35 I was dragged by a big guy with a lot of guns and bullets around him and was thrown in a truck.
01:43 They took us from our family.
01:46 The rebel, they want the kids.
01:50 It's easier to brainwash the kids to be a soldier, to go kill.
01:56 They give you a gun and say, "You see somebody? Pull the trigger."
01:59 Kids were dying every day.
02:05 I was just like crying, missing my parents.
02:08 That's when three other boys planned their escape.
02:13 They went out training and they saw the hole in the fence.
02:18 In the middle of the night, this kid picked me up.
02:21 They told me, "Tonight we are going to see your mom again."
02:24 We went through this hole in the fence.
02:28 The other one went through the second one and then me and then third one.
02:31 And we came in and we crawled toward the hole in the fence.
02:34 And that's when my race began.
02:36 We just started running, running for our lives.
02:39 Three days, three nights, I'm running towards a hope.
02:44 Hopefully I can be able to see my mom again.
02:47 I can be able to be in my village again.
02:48 Run into the woods, through the savanna, in the tall grass.
02:53 We don't want anybody to be able to see us above on the hills.
02:57 We never had any food along the way.
03:00 We just ran away from the bad guys with bullets.
03:04 He and his friends were arrested by the Kenyan border police
03:11 and taken to the Kakuma refugee camp.
03:16 The life there, it was just very tough.
03:19 One special day of the week, they'll dump their trash.
03:23 And they just drop it in this like a little hole.
03:26 And all the boys, we just jump in and just eat everything that is in there.
03:30 Rotten bananas, rotten tomatoes, anything that is there.
03:35 And we eat it all.
03:36 They never burn anything.
03:37 That was our meal of the week.
03:39 And that was our life.
03:43 I wanted to be, you know, one of those kids who just go to sleep and never wake up.
03:49 There was something called Olympics on TV.
03:56 I never seen TV before in my life.
04:00 We knock on this guy's house.
04:02 He opened the door.
04:04 He said, "Where are you guys going?"
04:07 We said, "We'd like to come and watch Olympics."
04:09 I got so close to that black and white TV
04:13 that the thing that was playing at the time was 400 meters by Michael Johnson.
04:17 He was running 400 meters final.
04:19 And the man ran and everybody was cheering, flashing of the cameras and everything.
04:25 And I look and I'm like, "Running was a sport?"
04:28 In my village, running is a place to go somewhere faster.
04:34 Running is me.
04:37 It's what I do.
04:38 I'm running towards a hope.
04:42 Hopefully, I can be able to see my mom again.
04:44 He finished the race.
04:46 He got his medal.
04:47 He won the podium, the national anthem.
04:50 And the tear came out of his cheek.
04:53 I didn't know at the time that he was actually running for something bigger.
04:58 He was running for his country.
05:00 He was representing his country.
05:01 And I said right then, I said, "I would like to run for that country one day.
05:05 I want to go to Olympics."
05:06 I started walking.
05:11 And then the memories of Michael Johnson started playing in my head.
05:14 And I started running and running a little bit faster and faster.
05:17 That was my dream.
05:19 What you didn't know is that there were some parents here in the United States
05:25 getting ready to make a home for you.
05:27 Rob and Barbara, how did they hear about you?
05:31 A program, the Lost Boys of Sudan, they needed a new home.
05:36 They saw there was my name in there.
05:40 They had a sign that said, "Welcome home."
05:43 I just walked straight to them.
05:45 I started pitching myself, like, "I need to wake up out of this dream."
05:47 All I was thinking is, like, "The place is so beautiful.
05:52 I don't belong here.
05:53 I don't think I am blessed enough to be able to stay in this house."
05:57 My dad basically opened up and said, like, "This is your home.
06:01 You are our son.
06:02 We're going to take care of you."
06:03 The cross-country coach, he comes to recruit you.
06:09 The moment I step my feet in the campus and I say, "I would like to go to the Olympics,"
06:12 well, it means, like, we have to win some meets, NCAA championship,
06:17 or maybe go to the USA championship,
06:18 and then that is the gateway for you to go to the Olympics.
06:21 And I say, "Everything is possible."
06:22 I saw Michael Johnson in a black and white TV.
06:28 Now, I can put that same jersey on my chest, run for the USA Olympic trials.
06:39 I'm running towards a hope.
06:41 Lopez Lamont.
06:45 Basically, what's inside my head, this is the opportunity.
06:51 This is what you are running for.
06:53 Remember, you used to run away from the bullets.
06:56 Now, you're running for pure joy.
06:59 And just put your head down, listen to your breathing.
07:08 Toyota Mintz, 5,000 meter.
07:10 I felt it's like twitch on my hamstring.
07:12 No, not right now, but 250 meters to go, 200 meters to go.
07:17 Flex channel, me running in the wilderness, thinking, if I give up right now,
07:25 if I look back, I will never be able to do this.
07:27 He's not giving up.
07:30 You get the feeling, though, it's going to come down to Paul Chalimo and Lopez Lamont.
07:35 Can Lamont do the double, the 10,000 and 5,000?
07:38 Now, the sprint's on.
07:39 Lamont's not letting Chalimo get away.
07:42 There's a double on the line.
07:44 I think Lopez Lamont might do it.
07:46 He wins, he gets the double.
07:48 The first to win the 5,000, 10,000 double.
07:52 When I crossed that line, it was incredible.
07:55 This race, not for me, it's for them.
07:59 I'm running for the children that don't have even moms, don't have parents,
08:04 don't have anybody to take care of, to feed them when they're hungry.
08:09 I am running for those kids, for those parents.
08:13 I'm calling this flag.
08:16 You find out, and you're surprised, that your parents back in Africa,
08:22 that you thought were dead, there's still a lot.
08:24 You're given an opportunity to travel back home.
08:28 After 17 years of separation, I saw my mom, I saw my dad, my brothers are all there.
08:37 I just come here to see you, to be able to hug you,
08:41 to eat with you, to share laughter together.
08:46 My legs saved my life.
08:48 I used to be running away from the bullets,
08:50 but now I'm running for joy, I'm running for a country that gave me opportunity.
08:56 Not take anything for granted.
08:58 The only way is forward.
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