Torri Huske leads U.S. delegation at White House celebration
President Joe Biden addressed Team USA’s Olympians and Paralympians Monday (30 September), honouring their medal wins at Paris 2024
100m butterfly Olympic champion Torri Huske and a large contingent of Team USA Olympians from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 met one important fan Monday (30 September): U.S. President Joe Biden.
Biden welcomed the delegation to the White House to celebrate the 126 medals won at the Paris Olympics and the 105 obtained at the Paralympics.
“Thank you for representing the very best of America," Biden said on the South Lawn, according to ABC News. “They see you and they begin to believe in themselves.”
The President joked that he and his staff had been enthralled with the competitions from the French capital.
“I had the TV on in the Oval Office,” he said, after telling the U.S. athletes on hand that members of his staff were trying to watch coverage of the Games during high-level briefings.
Though Biden didn’t attend the Games himself, saying he was told his presence would be disruptive, his wife, Jill, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff represented him there.
He doesn’t plan to miss out on the LA2028 Games in four years’ time, however.
“I won’t be president, they can’t stop me from going then,” Biden said.