Lopez Lomong carried the flag at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and became the fifth flag bearer to be born outside the United States. As a teenager in war-torn Sudan, Lomong was one of several thousand boys brought to America as a refugee in 2001. His selection came during a time when the U.S. and other Western countries had been critical of the Chinese government's close links with Sudan, a country accused of human rights violations and war crimes.