Area Olympians
Here is a list of Olympic athletes with ties to Washington D.C., Maryland or Virginia:
Jacob Wukie (archery) » The 26-year-old James Madison University graduate steps up to the Olympic team after serving as an alternate in 2008. He is a native of Oak Harbor, Ohio.
Carmelo Anthony (basketball) » The Baltimore native, 28, who played at Towson Catholic and Oak Hill, plays for the U.S. for the third time. The 6-foot-8 forward is five-time NBA All-Star.
Kevin Durant (basketball) » The D.C. native, 23, was raised in Prince George’s County and played at Suitland, Oak Hill and Montrose Christian. The 6-foot-9 forward is a three-time NBA All-Star and league scoring champion.
Ekene Ibekwe (basketball) » The 27-year-old former University of Maryland center plays for Nigeria. He currently plays professionally in Europe.
Nene (basketball) » The Washington Wizards 6-foot-11 center will compete for Brazil. Other NBA players on the Brazil roster are Leandro Barbosa (Pacers), Tiago Splitter (Spurs) and Anderson Varejao (Cavaliers).
Kevin Seraphin (basketball) » The Washington Wizards 6-9 forward will compete for France. He is one of five NBA players on the team including Tony Parker (Spurs), Ronny Turiaf (Heat), Boris Diaw (Spurs) and Nicolas Batum (Trail Blazers).
Tony Skinn (basketball) » The former Takoma Academy player and guard at George Mason, who started for the 2006 Final Four squad, plays for Nigeria. The 29-year-old was born there and moved to the Maryland suburbs as a child.
Claire Laubach (field hockey) » The Centerville High graduate, 28, who played for three national championship teams at Wake Forest, plays defense for the U.S., bringing more than 100 games of experience in international competition.
Katie O’Donnell (field hockey) » The 23-year-old, two-time national player of the year at Maryland led the Terps to two NCAA titles and helped them to another last fall as an assistant coach. The 5-foot-2 forward plays in the Olympics for the first time.
Paige Selenski (field hockey) » The University of Virginia midfielder took last year off from school to prepare full-time and will return to Charlottesville in the fall. This is her first Olympic Games.
Keli Smith-Puzo (field hockey) » The striker and mother of two, who helped Maryland to the NCAA championship in 1999, is the senior member of the team at age 32 and competed in Beijing.
Shannon Taylor (field hockey) » The Midlothian native, James River graduate and former player at Syracuse is a striker for the U.S. team in her first Olympics.
Michelle Vittese (field hockey) » Like Virginia teammate Selenski, Vittese has spent the last year in San Diego training with the national team. She plays in the midfield.
Gabrielle Douglas (gymnastics) » The 16-year-old Virginia Beach native was a member of the 2011 world championship U.S. team and participates in her first Olympics.
Caroline Queen (kayak) » The 20-year-old Darnestown resident edged Germantown’s Ashley Nee by 1.06 seconds to make the team for the first time. Queen is a junior at Davidson College.
Scott Parsons (kayak) » The 33-year-old, a resident of Bethesda, competes in the Olympics for the third time. He is originally from Toledo, Ohio.
Julie Zetlin (rhythmic gymnastics) » The 21-year-old Bethesda native and Walt Whitman graduate won the all-around competition at the 2011 Pan American Games and is the first American to qualify in rhythmic gymnastics since 2004.
David Banks (rowing) » The Potomac native and 2001 graduate of Winston Churchill High took up rowing at Stanford. He will be a member of the eights.
Giuseppe Lanzone (rowing) » The McLean High graduate continued his rowing career at the University of Washington. This is the second Olympics for the 29-year-old, also a member of the eights.
Farrah Hall (sailing) » The 30-year-old Hall, a former track athlete at Broadneck High and a graduate of St. Mary’s College, competes in the Olympics for the first time.
Nataly Arias (soccer) » The 26-year-old former O’Connell and University of Maryland midfielder will compete for Columbia, the homeland of her mother. She was also eligible to compete for Venezuela, the homeland of her father.
Abby Wambach (soccer) » The 32-year-old forward, and former player for the Washington Freedom, scored the winning goal in the gold medal game in Athens (2004) but missed the Beijing Games with a broken leg.
Katya Bachrouche (swimming) » The former Virginia All-American and 2011 graduate will swim for Lebanon, the homeland of her father. The 6-foot Bachrouche was raised in Michigan.
Katie Ledecky (swimming) » The 15-year-old from Bethesda is the youngest U.S. swimmer at the games and will compete in the 800 free after her surprise win at the trials. She is a rising sophomore at Stone Ridge and trains with Curl-Burke Swim Club.
Matt McLean (swimming) » The two-time ACC swimmer of the year at Virginia was added to the team to participate in the 800 free relay. The 6-foot-6 Sterling native is a 2007 graduate of Potomac Falls.
Lauren Perdue (swimming) » The University of Virginia senior was a surprise qualifier for the 800 free relay just four months after undergoing back surgery. She was born in Charlottesville and raised in North Carolina.
Michael Phelps (swimming) » The 27-year-old from Baltimore won six gold medals at Athens and eight in Beijing, more than any athlete at either Olympics. The Towson High graduate will compete in seven events in London.
David Karasek (swimming) » The 2012 ACC swimming and diving scholar-athlete of the year from Virginia will compete for Switzerland. He is a graduate student and a resident of Zurich.
Kate Ziegler (swimming) » The 24-year-old from Great Falls finished two seconds behind Ledecky in the 800 at the trials. The O’Connell graduate competed in the 400 and 800 in the 2008 Olympics, failing to reach the finals.
Terrence Jennings (taekwondo) » The Alexandria native and T.C. Williams graduate earned one of two men’s slots on the U.S. team and competes in the Olympics for the first time, in the featherweight class.
Matthew Centrowitz (track) » The 22-year-old from Arnold will run the 1500 meters. This is the first Olympics for the Broadneck High and Oregon University graduate. He finished third place in the 2011 world championships.
Julie Culley (track) » The former Loyola (Md.) track coach will compete in the 5000. It is the first Olympics for the 30-year-old.
Francena McCorory (track) » The 23-year-old from Bethel High and Hampton University competes in her first Olympic Games, running the 400. She won gold in the 4×400 world championships in 2011.
LaShawn Merritt (track) » The 26-year-old from Portsmouth and Woodrow Wilson High is the reigning Olympic champion in the 400 meters and also won gold in the 4×400 relay. He is coming off a 21-month ban for testing positive for a banned steroid.
Andrew Valmon (track) » The University of Maryland and former Georgetown track coach was named U.S. men’s track and field coach last year. He won gold in the 4×400 relay at Soeul and Barcelona.
Reid Priddy (volleyball) » The Richmond native took up volleyball when his family moved to Florida. The 6-foot-5 Priddy, 35, helped the U.S. win the gold medal in Beijing.
Angel McCoughtry (women’s basketball) » The 25-year-old from St. Francis of Baltimore plays for the U.S. for the first time. The 6-foot-1 forward plays for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA.
