From cycling to shooting, several athletes with New England connections will participate in the 2012 Olympics in London.
Aly Raisman
New England connection: Lives in Needham, Mass.
Team: Gymnastics
Age: 17
Twitter: @Aly_Raisman
Notes: Raisman was in tears when she was selected for a trip to London by the selection committee July 1. She contributed to the 2011 World Championships team gold medal and was a floor exercise bronze medalist. She trains at Brestyan’s gym in Burlington, Mass., which also produced Alicia Sacramone, who was not selected this year.
Women’s basketball team
New England connection: Many ties to UConn
Twitter: @SwinCash @tinacharles31 @TakeraShoes @MooreMaya @DianaTaurasi
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Notes: The US women’s basketball team is more like a UConn all-star team because it includes head coach and Connecticut resident Geno Auriemma and six former UConn stars: Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Asjha Jones, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi.
“I know people are going to say things about so many UConn players because coach Auriemma’s the coach,” Bird told the Seattle Times. “This is my only response — who would you leave off? That’s the best way to kind of silence it.”
Evelyn Stevens
New England connection: Grew up in Acton, Mass.; attended Dartmouth
Team: Cycling (road racing)
Age: 29
Twitter: @evelyn_stevens
Notes: Stevens was the only automatic qualifier for the women’s road cycling team. She won the Fleche Wallonne classic in Belgium, a major event in women’s cycling, as well as the Exergy Tour in Idaho. She is ranked No. 7 in the UCI (cycling’s governing body) women’s elite list.
Lea Davison
New England connection: Lives in Jericho, Vt.
Team: Cycling (mountain bike)
Age: 29
Twitter: @leadavisonbikes
Notes: Davison, who was a discretionary selection, has finished in the top 10 at three world cup or world championship events in the last two years. She is ranked No. 20 in the UCI’s women’s elite standings.
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Shelley Olds
New England connection: Born in Groton, Mass.
Team: Cycling (road racing)
Age: 31
Notes: Olds earned her nomination to London with her win at the Tour of Chongming Island World Cup No. 5 in China. A road racer, Olds grew up in Groton and currently lives in Gilroy, Calif., and Girona, Spain. She is a two-time Elite Criterium national champion (2010, ‘11) and a two-time Elite Track scratch race national champion (’08, ‘09).
Shalane Flanagan
Shalane Flanagan
USA Track and Field
Shalane Flanagan
New England connection: Grew up in Marblehead, Mass.
Team: Track & Field (marathon)
Age: 30
Twitter: @ShalaneFlanagan
Notes: Flanagan was the 2012 marathon trials champion, which guaranteed her a spot on the US team for London. Prior to switching to the marathon, she was a middle distance runner. She has also committed to making her Boston Marathon debut in 2013.
Andrew Wheating
New England connection: From Norwich, Vt., and went to high school at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH.
Team: Track & field (1,500)
Age: 24
Twitter: @AndrewWheating
Notes: Wheating placed third in the 1,500 at the Olympic track trials, earning his bid to London. He finished fourth in a qualifying heat of the 800-meter race in Beijing and was the runner-up at the 2008 US Olympic trials.
Sean Furey
New England connection: Went to Methuen High School in Massachusetts and Dartmouth College
Team: Track & field (javelin)
Age: 29
Notes: Furey finished fourth in the javelin at the track trials with a throw of 255-05. Previously, he was the runner-up at the USA Outdoor Championships in 2011 and the champion in 2010. He finished third in 2009. While attending Methuen, he captured two state championships in the javelin and a national championship.
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Craig Kinsley
New England connection: Went to Fairfield Prep in Connecticut
Team: Track & field (javelin)
Age: 23
Twitter: @craigkinsleyUSA
Notes: Kinsley finished in third at the track trials with a throw of 262-02. He achieved the ‘A’ standard throw, which traveled 270 feet, required to qualify at a meet in Chicago.
Donn Cabral
New England connection: Grew up in Glastonbury, Conn.
Team: Track & field (3,000-meter steeplechase)
Age: 22
Notes: Cabral will represent the US in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, one of track and field’s most grueling events. The 2011 Princeton graduate made a late push in trials to earn a trip to London, finishing second with a time of 8:19.81.
Sarah Groff
New England connection: Born in Hanover, NH.
Team: Triathlon
Age: 30
Twitter: @sgroffy
Notes: Groff qualified for the 2012 US Olympic triathlon team with a seventh-place finish at the 2011 London ITU World Championship Series event. She went on to place third in the ITU WCS rankings for the first-ever series podium finish by a US woman. She posted five top-10 finishes in 2011.
Sarah Scherer
New England connection: Grew up in Woburn, Mass.
Team: Shooting
Age: 21
Notes: Scherer is the second member of her family to earn an Olympic berth: her brother, Stephen, was a member of the 2008 team.
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Alex Meyer
Alex Meyer
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Alex Meyer
New England connection: Lives in Cambridge, Mass.
Team: Swimming
Age: 23
Twitter: @AlexMeyerSwims
Notes: Meyer, a Harvard graduate, will represent the US team at the Olympic 10K marathon swim in London. He is the 2010 world 25K marathon swimming champion and reigning 2011 USA Swimming national 10K open water swimming champion. Meyer has trained under Harvard and US coach Tim Murphy, who lives in Wayland, Mass.
Elizabeth Beisel
New England connection: Grew up in Saunderstown, R.I.
Team: Swimming
Age: 19
Twitter: @ebeisel34
Notes: Beisel placed first in the 400-meter individual medley at the Olympic trials. She captured the gold in the 400 IM at the 2011 FINA World Championships for her first world title. At Beijing in 2008, the then 15-year-old was the youngest member of the US Olympic swim team.
Kayla Harrison
New England connection: Lives in Wakefield, Mass.
Team: Judo
Age: 21
Twitter: @Judo_Kayla
Notes: Harrison won her second senior national title this year. She competes in the 78kg division. Her coach, Jimmy Pedro, who runs a training dojo in Wakefield where Harrison trains, is the US judo team coach.
Elena Pirozhkova
New England connection: Went to Greenfield High School in Greenfield, Mass.
Team: Wrestling
Age: 25
Notes: The Russian-born Pirozhkova qualified for her first Olympic Games in the April 22 US Olympic Trials for Wrestling in Iowa City, Iowa.
Rowing team
New England connection: Multiple athletes
Notes: Elle Logan of Portland, Maine, qualified with Erin Cafaro for the women’s eight. Additional rowers headed to London with New England ties include Charlie Cole of New Canaan, Conn., Will Miller of Duxbury, Mass., Will Newell of Weston, Mass., Elliot Hovey of Boston, Henrik Rummel of Harvard University, Nick LaCava of Weston, Conn., Ken Jurkowski of New Fairfield, Conn., Wes Piermarini of West Brookfield, Mass., Natalie Dell of Somerville, Mass., Gevvie Stone of Newton, Mass., Kristin Hedstrom of Concord, Mass., Sara Hendershot of West Simsbury, Conn., and Sarah Trowbridge of Guilford, Conn.
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Sailing Stuart McNay
New England connection: Multiple athletes
Notes: Stuart McNay, who lives in Boston and grew up in Newton, Mass., qualified for the London Games in December after competing at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth, Australia. McNay will compete as a skipper in the men’s 470 class. He also competed at Beijing in 2008, finishing 13th in the 470. Fellow New Englanders on the sailing team include Trevor Moore of North Pomfret, Vt., Dartmouth’s Erik Storck, Connecticut College’s Bob Willis and Amanda Clark, Rob Crane of Darien, Conn., and Yale’s Sarah Lihan.
John Isner
New England connection: Plays for Boston Lobsters
Team: Tennis
Age: 26
Twitter: @JohnIsner
Notes: Isner was named to the US team after cracking the top 10 in the ATP rankings in March. Isner perhaps is best known for playing in the longest match in tennis history, which spanned 11 hours, 5 minutes over three days at Wimbledon in 2010. Isner will pair with Andy Roddick in doubles.
Ruben Sanca
New England connection: Attended UMass Lowell, John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Science
Team: Track & Field (Cape Verde)
Age: 25
Twitter: @sanca617
Notes: Sanca will represent Cape Verde in the 5,000-meter race. He graduated from UMass Lowell in 2009 and earned a masters there in 2010.