For Paralympic dressage rider Fiona Howard, the invitation from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to reunite with her teammates at the White House, where she’d meet President Joe Biden, was well-timed. She’d been feeling nostalgic for the Paris Paralympic Games in early September, where she and her teammates Rebecca Hart and Roxanne Trunnell made history by winning the first ever gold for Team USA.
“The other day I was on my phone looking for a photo, and I found myself in all of the Paris photos,” Howard said. “It made me miss it so much that I texted my teammate Becca and was like, ‘I really miss Paris.’ She was like, ‘I know, me too!’ ”
On Sept. 30, the USOPC gathered Olympians and Paralympians in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the athletes’ performance in Paris. Attendees were welcomed by President Biden, who thanked the athletes for representing Team USA. Later in the day, he visited with them individually.
“The president was very impressed with our medals—because they recommended that if you won medals at the Games that you wore them to the White House—so he was really great,” Howard said. “When he came up to all of us, we were kind of sitting in a group, and he was like, ‘Whoa, I’m blinded by the amount of medals!”
The event allowed the riders to sit with the magnitude of their wins in Paris, and what that success could mean for the future of the sport.
“It’s a moment to celebrate achievements, and with Fiona and Roxie and I having had such a spectacular Games, it was really special to get to wear three gold medals at the White House and realize that we were some of the most—if not the most decorated para athletes of this cycle—with three golds each,” Hart said.
“From a smaller represented sport, that is equestrian, to be able to put up that kind of a performance was really special to me,” she continued. “I’m hoping to be able to use that as a catalyst to get more support for para equestrian from the USOPC and to really make our achievements known.”
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The White House event was designed to help athletes process their experience on the world stage, and now the return to post-Games life, with others who are going through the same unique transition.
“Coming back to real life is always a challenge after an Olympic Games, but we had such an amazing group of people that it was an easier transition this cycle than I’ve had before,” said Hart, a five-time Paralympian. “And going to the White House after we got back was just a nice way to kind of get back together with our group and celebrate again.”
The event both celebrated the athletes’ accomplishments and allowed them to explore options as they consider what’s next in their careers. In an athlete summit, the athletes learned how to navigate options for retirement, opportunities to grow their social media, create podcasts, network and improve their marketing skills.
“A big part of the summit as well was helping us kind of process the after-Games feelings and what we want to do next,” Hart said.
In breakout sessions, the equestrians had the opportunity to socialize with athletes from other sports in a way they hadn’t been able to do as freely during the Games.
“Equestrian is usually in a satellite venue away from the [Paralympic] Village, so it lets us just kind of be seen and present in the USOPC as equestrians and as fellow athletes with all of the other sports,” Hart said.
“I think it’s just a great sharing of dynamic stories and athletic feats from across the entire para world, which I think is unique to the Paralympics,” she added. “I mean, everyone’s got a story in the Olympics, as well. But the Paralympics has a resonance to it that I think is quite special.”
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While the close-knit team enjoyed meeting other athletes, they were also grateful to pick up with each other in Washington right where they had left off in Paris.
“You develop a really special kind of bond with your teammates when you go through something like a Games, so it was really great to be reunited with them,” Howard said. “I definitely laugh a lot and smile a lot when I’m around my teammates. They’re really great. So it was a really fun few days to have.”
For Howard and Hart, encountering a giant Jenga board on the South Lawn of the White House felt like a moment of kismet.
“We saw the Jenga, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh!’” Howard said. “I played Jenga with my teammate, Becca, because we had some serious Jenga games while we were in Paris.”
She joked that now that she’s played Jenga at the Paris Paralympics and on the White House lawn, they’ll have to find another impressive venue—hopefully the 2028 Paralympics—for their next Jenga showdown.
“I don’t know how we will ever kind of match those locations for Jenga, but we’ll see!” she said.