Olympian Tyler Clary declines White House visit, wants to race cars instead

Olympic gold medalist Tyler Clary is our kind of guy. Not to say that we’d decline a chance to meet the President of the US, Barack Obama - in the White House no less - but we appreciate a true petrol head when we see one.

Apparently, Clary, who won gold at the 2012 London Olympics in swimming, decided that he’d rather spend a day of his life jumping at a chance to ride a stock car than to shake hands with the Commander-In-Chief.

The date for Clary’s White House invite was September 14 when the White House would be holding a special event for US Olympic athletes. The date, however, posed a scheduling conflict for Clary, who decided that getting to test drive some stock cars and attending the MAVTV 500 IndyCar event in Fontana, California the next day was higher on his bucket list than meeting the leader of the free world.

Clary has made no bones about his passion for motorsports, having already gone on record to say that he wants to become a full-fledged race car driver once his swimming career comes to an end.

Here’s to hoping the White House understands this snub. After all, this is still America, right?