First lady Jill Biden will lead the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, the White House announced Tuesday morning.


What You Need To Know

  • First lady Jill Biden will lead the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, the White House announced Tuesday morning

  • President Joe Biden will not attend the games but "will be rooting for the athletes,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last month

  • The first lady is traveling to Tokyo despite a state of emergency being declared there last week amid rising COVID-19 cases, leading to fans being banned from events

The White House said more information about the first lady’s trip is forthcoming. 

President Joe Biden will not attend the games but "will be rooting for the athletes,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last month.

The first lady is traveling to Tokyo despite a state of emergency being declared there last week amid rising COVID-19 cases. As a result, fans have been banned from attending all Olympic events in the Tokyo area.

This will be the second time Jill Biden has led the U.S. delegation at an Olympics. In 2010, she and then-Vice President Joe Biden attended the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

George W. Bush is the only U.S. president to attend an Olympics abroad, doing so in Beijing in 2008.

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, led the U.S. delegation at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. At the last summer games, in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, then-President Barack Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry.

The Tokyo Olympics, which have been delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, take place from July 23-Aug. 8.

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