The 2020 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing U.S. Olympians and Paralympians have been invited to the White House on May 4th.
After COVID-19 delayed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, both the Summer 2020 Tokyo Olympians and Paralympians will be in the White House at the same time as the Winter 2022 Beijing Olympians and Paralympians. This will be the first time ever that athletes from both events will visit at the same time. This also will be the first time that Olympians visit the White House under the Biden administration.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, First Lady Jill Biden watched a prelims session of swimming.
Biden has previously met virtually with the 2020 Tokyo Summer Athletes.
As we all know, COVID-19 has put a lot of things on halt including the typical visits from the athletes. The tight schedule of back to back events also explains why the athletes from the two events will be celebrated at the same time. Typically, the two are separated by one and a half and two and a half years. This past Olympic cycle though, they were only separated by six months.
More than over 600 athletes out of about 900 are expected to be at the celebration and then will partake in service activities around Washington DC afterward.
The White House has a tradition to invite both championship athletes as well as Olympians to the White House. The tradition for champions to visit the White House dates back all the way to at least 1865.
Can’t wait to hear when the National Champions get that opportunity again…. Was a great tradition that needs to come back
The question is how many will deny it because of the administration that’s in there now?
Probably not many compared to previous administration.