First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the Presidential Delegation to the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, accompanied by Olympic and Paralympic greats Brandi Chastain, Dominique Dawes, Gabriel Diaz de Leon, Grant Hill and Summer Sanders. While in London, Obama and the delegation will attend the Opening Ceremony, meet with U.S. athletes competing in the games and encourage American children to be active in their daily lives.
As part of the visit, Obama will host a Let’s Move! event for about 1,000 American military children and American and British students to engage them in the spirit of the Olympic Games. Co-sponsored by Nickelodeon’s The Big Help pro-social campaign and the Department of State, Let’s Move! London will include sports stations, performances and chances for the kids to meet Olympic and Paralympic legends including the members of the U.S. delegation along with David Beckham, Bart Conner, Nadia Comaneci, Teresa Edwards, Emily Hughes, Sarah Hughes, Shawn Johnson, Carl Lewis, Dikembe Mutombo, Dara Torres, members of the 2012 US Track and Field Team and Manchester United legends, among others.
This event is part of the First Lady’s work to turn the inspiration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games into action by getting more kids healthy and active. In May, the First Lady joined U.S. Olympians, Paralympians and London hopefuls to announce a nationwide commitment to get more than 1.7 million American children active as part of her Let’s Move! initiative to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation. In March, Mrs. Obama welcomed Mrs. Samantha Cameron, wife of British Prime Minister David Cameron, to the United States by hosting a mini-Olympic event for local school children and in April, Mrs. Obama spoke at the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Warrior Games. Mrs. Obama also invited Americans to start or join Let’s Move! Olympic Fun Day Meetups on July 28th, the first day of competition in London. In cities and towns all across the country, friends, family and neighbors will come together to participate in Olympic-inspired games and activities to not just cheer on Team USA, but to live up to the example they set.
Obama will arrive in the United Kingdom on Thursday, later this week.
