With a smile as bright as a gold medal, retired gymnast Simone Biles was one of 17 Americans who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on July 7, 2002, at The White House.
“I’m so honored [and] thankful to be recognized as a recipient by President Biden for this prestigious award. I still have no words. I’m shocked!,” Biles said on Twitter following the ceremony.
Jonathan Owens, Simone’s fiancé, and a native St. Louisan who starred at CBC in football and plays for the Houston Texans, called the day “a surreal experience.”
“You’re one of the strongest people I know and are so deserving, I’m so blessed to be able to experience this with you. You motivate me more every day to be the best version of myself,” he wrote on a photo of the couple he uploaded to social media.
The Medal of Freedom is given to those who have made immense, impactful contributions to the United States or the global community. Simone was recognized for her advocacy in “athletes’ mental health and safety, children in the foster care system, and victims of sexual assault,” according to The White House.
Actor Denzel Washington is a recipient but was unable to attend because he reportedly is recovering from COVID-19.
“The Fourth of July week reminds us of what brought us together long ago and still binds us – binds us at our best, what we strive for,” Biden remarked during the ceremony.
“We the people, doing what we can to ensure that the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun to light up the future of the world,” Biden stated.
The late Sen. John McCain, who served alongside Biden in the U.S. House and Senate, received his award posthumously, as did Apple Founder Steve Jobs and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
Other medal recipients were Women’s National Soccer Team star Megan Rapinoe, and Khazir Khan, a parent of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 during the Iraq War.
Also honored were former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., an advocate of campaign finance reform and marriage equality; Sister Simone Campbell, an advocate for progressive issues; Julieta García, the first Hispanic woman to serve as President of a U.S. college; Fred Gray, one of the first Black members of the Alabama Legislature since Reconstruction.
The Rev. Alexander Karloutsos, former vicar-general of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Diane Nash, a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who worked with Martin Luther King Jr.; Wilma Vaught, an Air Force brigadier general and one of the most decorated women in the history of the U.S. military; and Raúl Yzaguirre, a civil rights advocate who was the CEO and President of the National Council of La Raza for 30 years.
