D.C. Visit: Looking forward, looking back

BALTIMORE – As a member of the Swedish Olympic team in 1994 and 1998, Bengt Walden got a chance to meet the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf.

On Wednesday, Walden, who became an American citizen in October and represented the United States at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in luge, will be among more than 200 Olympians and Paralympians who will meet President Barack Obama and tour the White House.

Which is bigger, a brush with royalty or meeting the president of the United States?

“I think this is pretty big,’’ Walden said. “I mean, this is Obama, right?’’

The anticipation of the White House tour was high Tuesday night as many of the Olympians and Paralympians who competed in Vancouver and Whistler gathered at a reception held, appropriately, at the Sports Legends Museum in downtown Baltimore.

Ralph Green, a Paralympic alpine skier, said he couldn’t wait to meet the president, noting that his 90-year-old grandmother in Orlando was envious of his opportunity.

And then there was Olympic ice dancer Evan Bates, who was excited about getting two chances to see the president in less than a month. In addition to his visit to the White House on Wednesday, Bates is lucky enough to have scored tickets to the University of Michigan’s graduation ceremonies, where Obama will be the commencement speaker on May 1. Bates lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., and is a student at Michigan.

As U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive Scott Blackmun told the athletes, “Tomorrow is going to be a great opportunity, an awe-inspiring opportunity.’’

As excited as the athletes were about the White House visit, they also seemed genuinely excited to be reunited with each other as well. Many of the athletes had not seen each other since they had competed in the Olympic or Paralympic Games back in February and March. Some of them, like Olympic bobsled gold medalist Steve Holcomb, barely have had time to visit their own homes let alone hang out with fellow athletes. Holcomb said he’s having a hard enough time getting his new puppy trained.

During the reception, however, ice dancers were seen mingling with snowboarders and mogul skiers were hanging out with hockey players. And then there were some who thought Olympic luge athlete Julia Clukey was Lindsey Vonn. In fact, just as Clukey was telling a reporter that several people had mistaken her for the alpine skier, someone walked up and asked if she was indeed Vonn.

“See what I mean?’’ Clukey said.

Some of the athletes, like Clukey, were thinking about how they were going to approach the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, while others like five-time Olympian Mark Grimmette, were contemplating life after the Olympic Games.

The athletes, many legends themselves, got a chance to tour the Sports Legends Museum, located just steps away from Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, and just a few more feet away from the birthplace of Babe Ruth.

As they toured the museum, they got a taste of Orioles baseball, Colts and Ravens football and even some Olympic memorabilia from figure skating champion Dorothy Hamill, who makes her home in Baltimore. Many of the members of the U.S. women’s hockey team checked out the Orioles exhibits and even posed for pictures next to photos of the city’s baseball greats.

Afterward, the athletes gathered together and caught up with friends they had made back in Canada while munching on American baseball-themed grub and of course, Baltimore’s famous crab cakes. It was not exactly Olympic training food, as bags of cotton candy and Cracker Jack and an ice cream truck were made available to the athletes, but then again, this was a celebration of their Olympic and Paralympic feats, not preparation for them.

They also got a taste of humor, too. A video was shown featuring Stephen Colbert, the political comic who befriended the U.S. Olympic speed skaters in Vancouver.

‘I’m so thrilled to be almost here today,’’ Colbert said in the video.

Later, the crowd chuckled as he mentioned the thought of U.S. politicians riding together in a “bipartisan bobsled.’’ Colbert made sure to add that sometimes the politicians would “lean different ways.’’

Throughout the night, highlights were played from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, during which the United States racked up 37 medals (nine gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze) –  the highest medal output of any country at the Games. For some athletes, the scenes from Vancouver and Whistler seemed so recent. For others, events from just two months ago seemed decades old.

“I am just now having time to reflect on our year,’’ said U.S. champion pairs figure skater Jeremy Barrett, who competed in Vancouver with partner Caydee Denney. “It’s been a long season.’’

Barrett won the U.S. pairs title in January, competed in Vancouver in February, then he went to the World Championships in March. He followed that up by performing in four shows with the Smucker’s Stars on Ice tour and now is going to the White House. On April 8, two days before his birthday, his hometown of Venice, Fla., celebrated a day in his honor, and a parade will be held for him and Denney and another Florida Olympic pairs team, Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, this weekend in Sarasota.

“It’s the offseason now,’’ Barrett said. ‘I’m going to enjoy the beach.’’