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On Thursday, Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe rounded out the most dignified room in Washington.
Biles entered first, and the vice president’s smiling eyes and clapping hands followed her to the stage. Rapinoe wore an all-white suit and sat closest to a full-length portrait of George Washington. Between them, in rows of gold-legged chairs, sat assembled Firsts and Founders: to name a few, the first American to receive a coronavirus vaccination outside of clinical trials and the founder of a center defined by his constitutional education and debate.
Inside the East Room, one of the largest in the White House and still too small to host today’s event, Biles and Rapinoe were the only two athletes among the panel of 17 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor of the nation given to civilians .
Biden honored 17 people with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
All around them were people whose life stories could fill the history books of the best ideals and worst impulses seen in modern America. In the front row, masked and glowing in pink, was Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Coordinating Committee for Nonviolence; in the back row, center, sat former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who had to learn to walk and talk again after being shot in the head; next to her was Lauren Powell Jobs, attending on behalf of her late husband Steve, the co-founder of Apple.
The two athletes joined the ranks of civil rights icons and award-winning politicians, yet they blended perfectly.
Rapinow and Biles burst into the nation’s consciousness as Team USA athletes. In two Olympics, Biles became the most decorated American gymnast in history. Rapinoe cemented her legacy as a two-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist by spreading her arms, bending just like that and striking a pose of triumph after one of her grab goals. Their achievements on the mat, beam or court changed their respective sports, but that’s not why the women will be invited to the White House on Thursday.
As transcendent as they were as athletes, Rapinoe and Biles proved far greater as brave and defiant defenders.
The last time Biles appeared publicly in Washington, she was testifying on Capitol Hill. Although it was the last place she wanted to be, Biles told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as viewers about the emotional scars she dealt with after being sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar, the disgraced doctor. who was formerly associated with USA Gymnastics. As a testament to her greatness, Biles still stands above all other American gymnast medalists, despite only adding a bronze during the 2020 Games.
In the run-up to Tokyo, dealing with the trauma proved to be “too much,” she later said. Biles retired from individual all-around competition specifically to focus on mental health. Her choices made her more human than the GOAT And the sport could use more people.
President Biden began the presentation by focusing on Biles — she had the alphabetical advantage. Moreover, she has the distinction of being the youngest recipient of the Medal of Freedom at just 25 years old.
“She turned personal pain into a greater purpose, to stand up and speak for those who can’t speak for themselves,” Biden said. “Today she adds to her medal tally.”
Then, reading a prompter at the back of the room, Biden turned his attention to the first football player to be honored as a Medal of Freedom recipient.
“Where’s Megan? Megan, where are you?” Biden asked before beginning his speech. He didn’t notice the pink-haired Rapinoe sitting right behind him, as sassy as ever, as she leaned closer and waved.
Everything about Rapinoe’s colorful hair and playful personality makes her an easy choice to offer submarine sandwiches, vodka or credit cards. In 2021, her endorsement money put her right in front of the top 10 highest-paid female athletes, according to Forbes. But while helping the U.S. women’s national soccer team remain the most dominant in the world, Rapinoe and her teammates were paid less than the men.
The national team filed a class-action lawsuit that turned into a six-year trial, and Rapinoe also took her cause to Washington. Last year, she testified about gender discrimination before the House Oversight and Reform Committee and later appeared with Biden when he signed the Equal Pay Day proclamation.
“I know there are millions of people who are gender marginalized in the world and experience the same in their work. And I know there are people who feel even more as the layers of discrimination continue to pile up against them. And my teammates and I are here for them,” Rapinoe said during the White House event. “We on the US Women’s National Team are here today because of them.”
In February, the U.S. Women’s National Team reached a $24 million settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation. Before acknowledging that achievement, Biden took a digression into the timing of the story. He turned to Rapinoe as he recalled the excitement his granddaughter, who was a high school athlete, felt at meeting her. She scored goals and posed like a Greek god, but for generations to come, Rapinoe’s legacy will be her fierce advocacy off the pitch.
“She helped bring about change for perhaps the most important victory for anyone on the football team, or any football team — equal pay for women,” Biden said as the room erupted into thunderous applause.
The ceremony continued. Fred Gray, the lawyer who represented Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and the NAACP during the civil rights battle, sat cross-legged, waving his red socks until he stood up on his own to be decorated with a medal. At 91, he still practices law. Cindy McCain wiped her eyes as Biden remembered her late husband, Sen. John McCain. Sandra Lindsey, the New York nurse and vaccine advocate, reached over and put her hand on McCain’s for comfort. And after the Gold Star father, the Catholic priest, the son of the late AFL-CIO president, the gymnast, the football player and everyone else received their medals, the president made a final announcement.
“This is America,” Biden said.
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