Washington, United States

The outgoing United States President lifted the lid on his absence during the Paris Olympics as he hosted the successful athletes during an event held at the White House on Monday (Sep 30). United States won 40 gold medals, same as China but got the top spot for winning more silver medals at the quadrennial event.

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Biden said that he wanted to attend this year’s Paris Olympics, but “they” told him that he could not go as this would create “commotion”.

“Because I’m president and I cause commotion when I go places, they wouldn’t let me go the Olympics. But I watched it all. Jill, my wife, went to the Olympics,” the US president said.

Biden lifts lid on Paris Olympics absence

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“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.”

Biden, who in July had announced his withdrawal from the upcoming US elections and instead nominated Kamala Harris hosted 400 Olympians. He sported a USA baseball cap during the event and celebrated their success. At the end of the ceremony, athletes presented President Biden with a jacket on behalf of Team USA.

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As mentioned above, it was a tight contest for the top spot in the Paris Olympic standings as both China and the United States ended with 40 gold medals. This meant silver medals decided the top spot, as the US won 44 compared to China’s 27. Interestingly, the United States was the only nation in the Paris Olympics that completed a century of medals having accounted for 126 in total which consisted of 42 bronze medals as well.

During the Paris Paralympics, the United States bagged 105 medals and stood third. This included 36 gold, 42 silver and 27 bronze medals. Only Great Britain and China were the most successful nations after the United States. This also meant that the United States completed a unique feat of winning more than 100 medals at both the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.