(ATR) The White House’s Office of the First Lady announced on Tuesday that Jill Biden would be attending the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“First Lady Jill Biden will travel to the Opening Ceremony of the 2021 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan”, the Office said in a statement. “The Opening Ceremony of the 2021 Olympic Summer Games will be held on July 23, 2021. Additional information and details to come”.
The decision follows last week’s declaration of a health emergency in Tokyo and a subsequent ban on spectators at Olympic events. President Joe Biden was confirmed in late June to not be attending the Games, with the White House instead announcing that a team was being sent to Tokyo to analyze the feasibility of a Jill Biden visit. Ms. Biden’s trip, now confirmed, will be her first solo international travel assignment since her husband took office.
U.S. officials have regularly maintained that they support the Games taking place and have confidence that they will be carried out safely.
“We’re well aware of the careful preparations, including the public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff, and spectators, that the government and international committee has undertaken, which is why, as we said, we support the Games moving forward,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week.
President Biden’s decision to skip the Olympics is by no means unprecedented, as no sitting United States President has attended since George W. Bush in 2008. In 2018, then-Vice President Mike Pence headlined the U.S. delegation, while Secretary of State John Kerry led the contingent in 2016. Ms. Biden has attended the Olympics once before in 2010, where she and her husband represented the U.S. in Vancouver as Vice President and Second Lady.
More details about Jill Biden’s trip to Tokyo are expected to be revealed in the coming days.
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