US soccer icon Megan Rapinoe paid silent tribute Thursday to a fellow sports star -- basketballer Brittney Griner, who is detained in Russia -- during a White House awards ceremony.
As Rapinoe and several others received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American civilian honor, Rapinoe wore a white pantsuit with the initials “BG” and a flower embroidered on the lapel.
Griner, who has been imprisoned in Russia since February, pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges earlier Thursday in a case that has further inflamed tensions between Moscow and Washington.
