Sudan "Lost Boy" finds honor in new land ...

Carrying the U.S. flag at tomorrow's Olympic Games opening ceremony in Beijing will be Lopez Lomong, who "spent a decade in a refugee camp in Kenya as one of the 'Lost Boys of the Sudan'" before he was relocated "in the United States as a teenager with a family in Syracuse," New York.
"Lost Boys" is the name given to tens of thousands of boys -- and some girls -- separated from their families during the late-20th century war that pitted southern Sudanese rebels against the Khartoum government led by President Omar al-Bashir. The children wandered for hundreds of miles, eventually reaching refugee camps like Kakuma in northern Kenya. Many died along the way; some found their way to new homes in the United States.
The man given the birth name Lopepe Lomong -- he calls himself "Lopez" now -- is one of those. (Yesterday ImmigrationProf Blog named Lomong, above left its Immigrant of the Day.) Lomong ran track at Northern Arizona University. (photo credit) And last month in Eugene, Oregon, he won a spot on Team USA by placing 3d in the 1,500 meters. Friday he will lead that team into the Olympic stadium. He will bring as well thoughts of his native country, according to this report:

Lomong, 23, is a member of Team Darfur, a global coalition of athletes using the focus on the Beijing Olympics to urge China to exert its influence on the Sudanese government to alleviate the suffering in the country's Darfur region.

Not all his team members will be near at hand, however; see below.

... but China bars his Darfur Team-mates

Among those who will have to watch on TV as Lopez Lomong carries the American flag at the Olympics is Joey Cheek.
Like Lomong, profiled above, Joey Cheek is a U.S. Olympian. Cheek (left) won gold and silver speedskating medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. That year the U.S. Olympic Committee named him the male athlete of the year -- as noted by the official website of the Olympic Games set to begin tomorrow.
Yet the host of this summer's games, China, has revoked Cheek's visa to attend.
Why?
Turns out Cheek is a founder of Team Darfur, "an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about and bringing an end to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan." (credit for images) In a few years its ranks have swollen to more than 360 athletes from dozens of countries. Turns out at least 1 other Team Darfur member, the synchronized-swimming-bronze-medalist-turned-journalist at right, Kendra Zanotto, also was denied a visa.
And it's alleged

that four athletes competing in Beijing who are part of Team Darfur were pressured by the Chinese Embassies in their respective countries to withdraw from Team Darfur. They were told they would otherwise be closely watched and dubbed as 'troublemakers' ....

Such moves seem unlikely to stifle all talk of Darfur -- or of China's ties to the regime of President Omar al-Bashir, whom the International Criminal Court Prosecutor's charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur. For it's estimated that more than 70 Team Darfur members will compete in Beijing.

One of those Team Darfur athletes is Lomong, the onetime Sudanese "Lost Boy" chosen to lead his team into the Olympic stadium.