Former Georgia Tech All-American Angelo Taylor was selected by his teammates to be the captain of the Team USA men's track squad for the 2012 London Olympics. Taylor will be joined in leading the United States contingent by fellow four-time Olympian Aretha Thurmond, the women's team captain.
Source: ramblinwreck.com

On a typical workday, Nataly Arias is behind a desk in a four-story office building in Manassas recruiting for a government-contracting firm run by her aunt. It's been a steady job since graduating from the University of Maryland. Every so often, though, Arias must exhaust her vacation and sick-day balances and, when necessary, request unpaid leave in order to fulfill her other assignment: playing for Colombia's national soccer team.
Source: washingtonpost.com

Cullen Jones has a chance to wrap himself in glory - and in the American flag - three times in these Summer Olympics. But to get to London, he first had to listen to his mother. Last September, Jones was floundering - a big fish out of water. The former NCAA champion at N.C. State and Charlotte resident since 2008 had had a very bad World Championship meet in Shanghai, China.
Source: newsobserver.com

If you doubt this, if you think it impossible for equestrians, whose "uniforms" seem more appropriate for a formal evening gathering, to exemplify the Olympic ideal, you've not heard from Will Coleman. Coleman, 29, is a Virginia resident and Woodberry Forest School graduate, and soon he will have a degree from the University of Virginia.
Source: timedispatch.com

Our latest gem, compliments of Mr. Love, comes on an airplane trip (doesn't look to be First Class) with seven of the guys sleeping. Each player deserves a photo caption of his own. So here's our best stab at each:
1. Chris Paul: Wearing the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones and spooning a pillow, Paul is probably listening to Call Me Maybe and wishing his teammate Blake Griffin was going to London with him.
Source: tucsoncitizen.com

As a 13-year-old, Brittany Viola gave up her Olympic dream. She was nine years into a promising gymnastics career that wore her down through rigorous training and the pressure to be perfect. "Many individuals were telling me not to quit, that I would never be able to go to the Olympics, but I couldn't do it anymore," Viola said. "I had to stay true to how I felt. I was done." Except the Lake Highland and University of Miami graduate's goal of reaching the Olympics was not over.
Source: orlandosentinel.com