London 2012 Olympics: Local athletes go for gold

From Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky to Kevin Durant and LaShawn Merritt, Maryland, Virginia and the District will be well-represented at the London Games.

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Baltimore native Michael Phelps, 27, won eight gold medals in Beijing and six gold and two bronze medals in Athens. The "Baltimore Bullet" will be competing in seven events in London.

Michael Regan / Getty Images

Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony is playing on his third Olympic men's basketball team after winning bronze in 2004 and gold in 2008. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward attended Towson Catholic and Oak Hill Academy before playing one season at Syracuse University.

Gustau Nacarino / Reuters

Arnold, Md., native and Broadneck High School graduate Matthew Centrowitz will be competing in the men's 1500-meter race in London. His father was a two-time Olympian and is the track and field coach at American University..

Matt Slocum / AP

Farrah Hall is an Annapolis native and another alumnus of Broadneck High School. She will be competing in women's sailboard.

Mark Dadswell / Getty Images

Gymnast Gabrielle Douglas grew up in Virginia Beach before moving to Iowa to train when she was 14. She took first place at the Olympic trials to guarantee her spot in London.

Brian Snyder / Reuters

District and Prince George's County native Kevin Durant has become one of the most recognizable athletes in American sports. Durant was The Post's All-Met Boys' Basketball Player of the Year for Montrose Christian in 2006 before he played one season at the University of Texas.

Toni L. Sandys / THE WASHINGTON POST

Katie Ledecky is a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Bethesda's Stone Ridge School. She qualified for the Olympics by winning the 800-meter freestyle at the trials.

Nati Harnik / AP

Angel McCoughtry grew up in Baltimore and attended St. Frances Academy before playing collegiately at the University of Louisville. The 6-foot-1 forward leads the WNBA in scoring and is playing in her first Olympics.

Nigel Roddis / Reuters

Scott Parsons is an Ohio native who currently resides in Bethesda. He is participating in his third Olympics in slalom kayak after he finished sixth in 2004 and 20th in 2008.

Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images

Alexandria native Terrence Jennings won the Olympic trials in taekwando in the 150-pound class.

David Zalubowski / AP

Giuseppe Lanzone was born in Peru but later moved to Annandale. He began rowing at McLean High School and was a member of the U.S. men's four boat that finished ninth in Beijing.

Handout / Reuters

Field hockey player Claire Laubach graduated from Centreville High School in 2001 and Wake Forest in 2005. She will be making her first Olympic appearance.

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Francena McCorory, shown leading the way in the women's 400-meter race at the Olympic trials, hails from Hampton, Va., and is one of the favorites to win the event in London.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

Sterling, Va., native and 2011 University of Virginia graduate Matt McLean will compete in the 800-meter freestyle relay in London.

David Phillip / AP

LaShawn Merritt of Portsmouth, Va. will look to repeat as a gold medalist in the men's 400-meter race and 4x400-meter relay.

Eric Gay / AP

Reid Priddy of the U.S. men's volleyball team grew up in Richmond, Va., before attending high school in Arizona. He was a member of the volleyball team that won gold in Beijing in 2008.

Elsa / Getty Images

Kellie Wells is from Richmond, Va., and graduated from James River High School in 2002 and Hampton University in 2006. Wells overcame a childhood that included abuse and the death of her mother to qualify for the 100-meter hurdles in London.

David Davies / AP

Kate Ziegler is a native of Great Falls, Va., and a graduate of Bishop O'Connell High School. She qualified for the women's 800-meter freestyle in London along with Katie Ledecky.

Jamie Squire / Getty Images

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Vice President Joe Biden speaks before the Frederick Douglass statue now permanently placed in the US Capitol's Emancipation Hall in Washington, DC on June 19, 2013. The statue of the abolition leader was chosen by District residents to represent them in the Capitol because of his stance on self governance according to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The statue by artist Steven Weitzman, was blocked from it's placement in the Capitol for years, a victim of rules that stated that only the 50 states can display statues of their favored sons and daughters in the Capitol. The House and Senate passed a resolution last month allowing DC to be represented in Emancipation Hall which features statues of notable leaders nominated by each state. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in the Capitol

The carving of the famed abolitionist and District advocate finds its place inside the halls of Congress.

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

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Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

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In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

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Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

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