WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President Joe Biden welcomed Olympic and Paralympic athletes to the White House on Monday to celebrate the success of Team USA during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
“Your legacy is one of discipline, success, joy and loyalty to one another. And that legacy, it’s part of something bigger than yourselves, it’s about your country,” Biden said.
Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske was one of several athletes to speak ahead of the president, along with Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Paul Schulte who introduced President Biden in front of a crowd gathered on the South Lawn.
“We chose to rise above, expelling feelings of defeat and striving for something greater,” Schulte said. “These qualities are really what being an American is all about, aren’t they?”
President Biden said he was welcoming 400 athletes to the nation’s capital. He sported a USA baseball cap as he joked that he couldn’t go to the Olympics because he caused too much “commotion.”
“My staff would have their TVs on watching you as I was trying to get briefed on national security,” Biden said. “In fairness, I had the TV on in the Oval Office as well.”
At the end of the ceremony, athletes presented President Biden with a jacket on behalf of Team USA.
The U.S. easily won the total medal count with 126 medals. Team USA tied China for the most gold medals with 40 each. In addition to the 40 gold medals, the U.S. brought home 44 silver and 42 bronze. The last time the U.S. did not top the gold medal standings was at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
