White House Opens Gate for Olympians

Bill Clinton may be a slow-footed jogger and a golfer of modest skills, but at least he got to dress like a champion athlete Wednesday, wearing the official jacket of the U.S. Olympic team.

The nation’s First Fan greeted an enthusiastic crowd of cheering and waving members of the Olympic and Paralympic teams at the White House.

The president told the athletes he forgave them “for completely destroying my sleep habits” during the Summer Games at Sydney, Australia. “Like so many Americans, I was thrilled by the accomplishments of these remarkable teams,” he said.

While praising the entire team, Clinton singled out the exploits of two Olympians, “our diver, Laura Wilkinson, who captured the gold medal just three months after breaking three bones in her right foot. And Lenny Krayzelburg, who came [to the U.S.] from the Ukraine in 1989 and just a decade later won all three of the backstroke events.”

The Olympians savored their proximity to history and to power, listening to the Marine band play, posing for pictures on the steps and balcony of the south portico of the White House, shaking hands with the president, and strolling on the perfectly manicured green lawn.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be here,” Krayzelburg said after the ceremony. Krayzelburg, of Studio City, and Stacy Dragila of Auburn, Calif., who won the gold medal in the women’s pole vault, had presented Clinton with the red, white and blue Olympic jacket, making him an honorary member of the team.

Grinning, the president donned the garment over the standard political “uniform” of Washington--a dark suit jacket. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who introduced the president, also wore an official Olympic jacket.

The athletes, who posed with President Clinton for a group portrait, were clearly thrilled to be honored at the White House.

“I feel very special, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Krayzelburg said, acknowledging he had been nervous. “It’s not every day you stand on the lawn of the White House, next to the president of the United States.”

It was a “tremendous” event said Julie Swail of Placentia, captain of the women’s team that won a silver medal in water polo. “Only the best of the best get to go to the White House . . . They drove that point home. This is a pretty big deal. I got to shake the president’s hand, and the First Lady’s hand, and Chelsea’s hand.”

Andrea Anderson of Long Beach, a member of the women’s 1,600-meter relay team, which won a gold medal, said, “It’s really exciting to be here, to meet all these people.”

The president also was presented with a second jacket, this one red, making him an honorary member of the U.S. team for the Paralympics, where disabled athletes from 122 countries compete. The Paralympics also were held in Sydney, in October.

“It’s great being included with the Olympians . . . the president was so receptive,” said Trooper Johnson of San Leandro, Calif., a member of the gold-medal team in wheelchair basketball.

While praising the Olympians’ accomplishments, the president lamented the sad reality that so many young Americans have become couch potatoes. “More and more of our young children are overweight and out of shape, and they are putting their health, long-term, at risk. We have got to turn this around,” he said.

“Not every young person can win an Olympic medal or even make the Olympic teams, but every young person has a body that is a gift from God, that ought to be maximized in terms of health and capacity,” Clinton said. “So I ask for your help in that.”

Administration officials were hosts of a meeting Wednesday to help promote increased exercise and sports for young people. The U.S. Olympic Committee promised to expand its Champions in Life program, which sends Olympic athletes to schools for speeches and demonstrations. One of the key goals is to bring back gym classes, which have been dropped at many schools.

A government study shows that 10% of all children under 18 are now overweight by 20 pounds or more, compared with only 5% in 1985. The increase is blamed on lack of exercise because children are eating the same amount of calories as 15 years ago.

About 42% of high school students participated in physical education classes in 1991, but the percentage declined drastically to 27% by 1997, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Illinois is the only state with mandated physical education for high school students.

This Olympic gathering will be the last one that Clinton hosts. After the ceremony, several athletes noted that it’s still not certain whether Al Gore or George W. Bush will do the next one.

“When I told people I was going to the White House and see the president,” swimmer Dara Torres said, “they were like: ‘Who? Which one?’ ”

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.