Off the wire
• International humanitarian forum starts in Baku  • Roundup: World wildlife conference has a productive first week: CITES head  • UNICEF scales up funding appeal for children in northeast Nigeria  • Oil prices extend gains on OPEC deal optimism  • Armenia to revamp movie industry  • One Chinese injured in New Jersey train accident  • Austria's 2017 growth forecasts revised downwards  • Spain's economy to grow by 3.2 pct in 2016: Bank of Spain  • Tanzania endorses oil pipeline construction  • Tanzania's economy grows 7.9 pct in Q2  
You are here: 　 Home

President Obama Honors U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams at White House

Xinhua, September 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to the White House here on Thursday, congratulating what they did at Rio Olympics.

"Our Olympians came in first so many more times than anybody else. It wasn' t even close. 46 golds, not to brag," Obama said.

Obama called Michael Phelps, the swimming star, "the greatest Olympian of all-time" for his holding the record of most career medals dating back to the ancient Olympic Games in Greece.

The president also paid tribute to Paralympic swimmer Brad Snyder for winning three gold medals after losing his eyesight while serving in the military in Afghanistan.

"I want to say just how proud all of you made not just Michelle and me but every American. We admire your athleticism but also your character," Obama said. Endit