Simone Biles, Megan Rapinoe among 17 to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Joe Biden on Thursday presented the nation's highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles and soccer player Megan Rapinoe.

"Today, she adds to her medal count," Biden said as he introduced Biles, a former foster child whose 32 Olympic and World Championship medals make her the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history.

"I don't know how you're going to find room for another medal," Biden joked. The 25-year-old is an advocate for athletes' mental health, foster care children and sexual assault victims. She's also the youngest person to ever receive the medal, Biden said.

Rapinoe, the Olympic gold medallist and two-time Women's World Cup soccer champion, captains the OL Reign in the National Women's Soccer League.

The Democratic president, who took office at a critical point during the coronavirus pandemic, also honoured Sandra Lindsay, the Queens, New York, nurse who was the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19 outside of clinical trials during a live television appearance in December 2020.

It was the first time Biden had awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His recipient list included both living and deceased honorees, some of them representing various stages of the president's life, from the Catholic nuns who taught him as a boy growing up in Claymont, Delaware, to Republican lawmakers he served with in the Senate to a college professor like his wife, Jill, to advocates of tightening access to firearms.

The 17 people receiving honours "have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive