Olympic athletes get their White House moment – and their White House vegetables

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Athletes from the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, from left, Sage Kostenberg of Park City, Utah, the Olympic Slopestyle Snowboarding gold medalist; and Mikaela Shifrin of Eagle-Vail, Colo., Olympic women\'s slalom gold medalis walk from the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 3, 2014, to talk to media, before being honored by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON – The White House is getting an Olympic-sized boost of energy as members of the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic teams from Sochi get their moment at the executive mansion.

The team members took an insider’s tour of the mansion and the grounds on Thursday before they were scheduled to get an official East Room welcome from President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

Slopestyle snowboarding gold medallist Sage Kotsenburg wound up carrying around a bouquet of vegetables from the kitchen garden on the South Lawn, made up of broccoli and other good things. But he wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.

Women’s hockey player Julie Chu helped him out, explaining to reporters that the vegetables show the importance of healthy eating for top athletes.

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