Obamas welcome Olympians to White House

President Obama welcomed the 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to the White House Thursday and gave a shout-out to some of Team USA’s most celebrated athletes. 

{mosads}“Only one American woman has ever won gold on the vault,” Obama said. “Only one American has won four golds in gymnastics in a single Games. That would be this young lady, Simone Biles.”

Obama joked that he was planning to do a Biles-style floor routine, but “I can’t touch my toes.”

Obama applauded some of the female stars of this year’s Olympics in Rio, including swimmer Katie Ledecky, sprinter Allyson Felix, swimmer Simone Manuel and more, who all made history in different ways.

“One of the reasons our country is so proud of this year’s Team USA is 2016 belonged to America’s women Olympians. I mean, no question,” Obama said.

The event was also attended by relatives of Jesse Owens and America’s 17 other black athletes from the 1936 Olympics, who didn’t get the acknowledgement their white counterparts did 80 years ago. 

“It was other African-American athletes in the middle of Nazi Germany under the gaze of Adolf Hitler that put a lie to notions of racial superiority — whooped ’em — and taught them a thing or two about democracy and taught them a thing or two about the American character,” Obama said.

“We’re honored to have many of their families here today.”