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 Harris has Down syndrome, but he owns his own restaurant and
is a Special Olympics star in year-round sports.
And the focus was more on the star athletes than on the pop
stars at a White House event on Thursday to commemorate the
anniversary of the Special Olympics organization.
"Presidents need encouragement once in a while too...Thank you,
Tim," Obama said after Harris left his seat during the
president's remarks to give him a hug, Harris' trademark at his
restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Established in 1968, the Special Olympics give people with
intellectual disabilities opportunities to participate in sports
ranging from basketball and bowling to figure skating and
gymnastics.
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will serve as honorary
chairs of the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles next
year. Some 7,000 athletes from 170 countries will take part.
At Thursday's dinner, entertainment celebrities mingled with
business magnates under chandeliers before digging into a menu
of "Maryland crab and corn ravioli" and "caramelized plum
galette". Dignitaries from the sports world included former
basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former tennis player Andy
Roddick and former figure skater Michelle Kwan.
Obama praised the other set of athletes in the room, including
Loretta Claiborne, the first Special Olympian to speak to the
United Nations General Assembly and Dustin Plunkett, Special
Olympics "international global messenger" who wrote that the
organization had "saved his life."
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"What all these people represent is what the Special Olympics is all
about - overcoming obstacles with love and kindness, and generosity,
and healthy competition," he said. "It's about pride and it's about
teamwork and it's about friendship. And it's about treating
everybody with dignity, and giving everybody a chance."
Seven athletes told their stories after the dinner before Katy Perry
started her concert with her hit "Roar."
"We are here to put an end to the injustice and captivity and
intolerance," said Ricardo Thornton, recently appointed by Obama to
the president's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Thornton said he had spent time in two institutions but Special
Olympics changed his life.
And Claiborne said because of Special Olympics, she converses in
four languages, holds two honorary doctorate degrees and has run 26
marathons.
"The days of being left out are over," she said.
(Editing by Ron Popeski)
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