President Joe Biden leaves St. Joseph connected the Brandywine Catholic Church successful Wilmington, Del., aft attending a Mass, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. Biden is spending the play astatine his location successful Delaware. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden leaves St. Joseph connected the Brandywine Catholic Church successful Wilmington, Del., aft attending a Mass, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021. Biden is spending the play astatine his location successful Delaware. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WILMINGTON, Del. – President Joe Biden praised U.S. Olympians for navigating the difficulties of a coronavirus-tarnished games with “moral courage" that made Americans' “hearts swell" with pride.

Biden, on with archetypal woman Jill Biden, spoke with Team USA successful a Zoom telephone Saturday evening from their location adjacent Wilmington, Delaware. The mates extended an invitation to the athletes to sojourn the White House successful the autumn to observe their accomplishments.

The Bidens heaped praise connected the athletes for their accomplishments successful their respective sports but besides honed successful connected singular moments successful the games erstwhile they said the athletes acceptable an illustration for their chap Americans.

“You handled yourself with specified grace and specified decency,” the president told the athletes. “You made maine truthful damn proud."

Biden told gymnast Simone Biles that her determination to retreat from events astatine the Tokyo Games to absorption connected her intelligence wellness acceptable an important illustration for others. She aboriginal came backmost to triumph a bronze successful the equilibrium beam final.

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“You had the courageousness to say, ‘I request immoderate help,’" Biden said. “And you gave an illustration to everybody. And conjecture what, by the way, you got backmost up connected that damned beam!"

Biden besides said that helium was heartened by however runner Isaiah Jewett carried himself aft helium and Botswanan Nijel Amos became tangled during a semifinal vigor of the 800 metre and some fell to the track.

Jewett and Amos helped each different to their feet, enactment their arms astir each different and finished unneurotic 54 seconds aft the winner. Biden said the infinitesimal of sportsmanship had “profound interaction astir the world."

“America erstwhile it leads the satellite leads not by the illustration of our powerfulness but by the powerfulness of our example," Biden said. "That's the God’s truth. And you are an epitome of that, and we convey you for it."

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.