Weekly Address: Celebrating the Summer Olympics and Paralympics
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Hi, everybody. Today, I want to take a break from the back-and-forth of campaign season, and talk about something that’s brought us all together this week – the Summer Olympics.
These games remind us that for all our differences, we’re Americans first. And we could not be prouder of the men and women representing our country in London, in both the Olympics and in the Paralympics.
Last weekend, Michelle led the American delegation to London and reaffirmed the special relationship we share with our strongest ally, Great Britain. She met with the Queen, and with Prime Minister Cameron’s wife, Samantha. She spent some time thanking our brave service members and military families. And, of course, she took in as many events as she could to cheer on our athletes.
I’ve got to admit I was a little jealous she got to go. But like many of you, I caught as many events as I could, jumping off the couch for a close race, or a perfect vault. I watched the wonderful young women of our gymnastics team recapture the team gold for America, and I was filled with pride watching Gabby Douglas win the all-around gold with incredible poise and grace. I watched our swimmers win a haul of medals, and Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. I saw our women’s soccer team power through the competition.
And I’m just as proud of all our athletes in sports that don’t always get as much attention. The U.S. women’s eight continued its rowing dominance with another gold medal. Kayla Harrison won America’s first-ever gold medal in Judo, and Marti Malloy won a bronze. Kim Rhode became the first American to win individual medals in five straight Olympics with her gold in skeet shooting; and her teammate, Army Sergeant Vincent Hancock, won his second skeet gold.
I also thought of the truly difficult journeys that many of our athletes have made. Some have faced personal loss, or beaten cancer. Some have worked long shifts at multiple jobs to feed their Olympic dream. And some
You can read the rest of this article at:: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/04/weekly-address-celebrating-summer-olympics-and-paralympics
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Posted by RobertButler
on Aug 4 2012. Filed under Barack Obama.
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