Powerful Team USA roster on tap for London

INDIANAPOLIS - Four reigning Olympic Champions and eight current world champions highlight the Team USA roster nominated to the U.S. Olympic Committee by USA Track & Field. A roster of 127 men and women stands ready represent the U.S. in track competition August 3 - 12 in London.

Notable for its depth across a range of events, the roster features 28 athletes - 16 men and 12 women - who already own individual world or Olympic gold medals. Nineteen are American record holders and one is a world record holder.

2008 Olympic gold medalists set to defend their titles Lashawn Merritt (400m), Angelo Taylor (400m hurdles), Dawn Harper (100m hurdles) and Stephanie Brown-Trafton (discus).

Fresh off of 2011 world championship titles, eight athletes will look to take their supremacy to the Olympic level: Jason Richardson (110m hurdles), Christian Taylor (triple jump), Jesse Williams (high jump), Trey Hardee (decathlon), Carmelita Jeter (100m), Jenny Simpson (1500m), Lashinda Demus (400m hurdles) and Brittney Reese (long jump).

Amy Acuff is the veteran of the team, as she makes her fifth trip to the Olympics. This will also mark the fourth Olympic Games for Abdi Abdirahman, Bernard Lagat, Aretha Thurmond and Angelo Taylor. Both Acuff and Thurmond have been Olympians since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

No fewer than 19 athletes on the roster currently own an American record indoors or outdoors, including Tyson Gay, Wallace Spearmon, Bernard Lagat, Galen Rupp, Kerron Clement, Brad Walker, Trevor Barron, Ashton Eaton, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross, Shalane Flanagan, Lolo Jones, Lashinda Demus, Jenny Simpson, Jenn Suhr, Chaunte Lowe, Jillian Camarena-Williams, Stephanie Brown-Trafton and Kara Patterson.

Ashton Eaton owns the world record indoors in the heptathlon and set the outdoor decathlon world record in spectacular fashion at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Team USA Olympic Roster
* Bold type indicates past World Outdoor or Olympic individual medalist
* Relay pools are composed of the 100m and 400m rosters, the athletes listed in each pool, plus any athlete already on the roster in any other event
* All nominations are pending approval by the USOC board of directors.

MEN
100m – Justin Gatlin (Orlando, Fla.), Tyson Gay (Clermont, Fla.), Ryan Bailey (Salem, Ore.)
200m – Wallace Spearmon (Dallas, Texas), Maurice Mitchell (Tallahassee, Fla.), Isiah Young (Lafayette, Miss.)
400m – LaShawn Merritt (Suffolk, Va.), Tony McQuay (Gainesville, Fla.), Bryshon Nellum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
800m – Nick Symmonds (Springfield, Ore.), Khadevis Robinson (Las Vegas, Nev.), Duane Solomon (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1500m– Leonel Manzano (Austin, Texas), Matthew Centrowitz (Eugene, Ore.), Andrew Wheating (Eugene, Ore.)
3000m Steeplechase – Evan Jager (Portland, Ore.), Donn Cabral (, Kyle Alcorn (Mesa, Ariz.)
5000m – Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.), Bernard Lagat (Tucson, Ariz.), Lopez Lomong (Beaverton, Ore.)
10,000m – Galen Rupp (Portland, Ore.), Matt Tegenkamp (Portland, Ore.), Dathan Ritzenhein (Portland, Ore.),
20 km Race Walk – Trevor Barron (Bethel Park, Pa.)
50 km Race Walk – John Nunn (San Diego, Calif.)
Marathon – Meb Keflezighi (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Ryan Hall (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.)
110m Hurdles – Aries Merritt (Bryan, Texas), Jason Richardson (Los Angeles, Calif.), Jeff Porter (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
400m Hurdles – Michael Tinsley (Round Rock, Texas), Angelo Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.), Kerron Clement (Los Angeles, Calif./Gainesville, Fla.)
High Jump – Jamie Nieto (Chula Vista, Calif.), (Erik Kynard (Manhattan, Kan.), Jesse Williams(Eugene, Ore.),
Pole Vault – Brad Walker (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.), Jeremy Scott (Brookland, Ark.), Derek Miles (Tea, S.D.)
Long Jump – Marquise Goodwin (Austin, Texas), Will Claye (Imperial Beach, Calif.), George Kitchens
Triple Jump – Christian Taylor (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Will Claye (Imperial Beach, Calif.)
Shot Put – Reese Hoffa (Athens, Ga.), Ryan Whiting (Port Matilda, Pa.), Christian Cantwell(Columbia, Mo.)
Discus Throw – Lance Brooks (Denver, Colo.), Jarred Rome (Chula Vista, Calif.), Jason Young (Lubbock, Texas)
Hammer Throw – Kibwe Johnson (Kamloops, B.C.), A.G. Kruger (Ashland, Ohio)
Javelin Throw – Craig Kinsley (Providence, R.I.), Sean Furey (San Diego, Calif), Cyrus Hostetler (Eugene, Ore.),
Decathlon – Ashton Eaton (Eugene, Ore.), Trey Hardee (Austin, Texas)
Relay Pool - Mike Rodgers (Round Rock, Texas), Darvis “Doc” Patton (Grand Prairie, Texas), Trell Kimmons (Round Rock, Texas), Ronell Mance (Los Angeles, Calif.), Manteo Mitchell (Cullowhee, N.C. ), Jeremy Wariner (Waco, Texas)

WOMEN
100m – Carmelita Jeter (Gardena, Calif.), Tianna Madison (Los Angeles, Calif.), Allyson Felix(Santa Clarita, Calif.)
200m – Allyson Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Carmelita Jeter (Gardena, Calif.), Sanya Richards-Ross (Austin, Texas)
400m – Sanya Richards-Ross (Austin, Texas), Francena McCorory (Hampton, Va.), DeeDee Trotter (Orlando, Fla.)
800m – Alysia Montano (Canyon Country, Calif.), Geena Gall (Eugene, Ore.), Alice Schmidt (Coronado, Calif.)
1500m – Morgan Uceny (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.), Jenny Simpson (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
3000m Steeplechase – Emma Coburn (Crested Butte, Colo.), Bridget Franek (Eugene, Ore.), Shalaya Kipp (Salt Lake City, Utah)
5000m – Julie Culley (Clinton, N.J.), Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.), Kim Conley (West Sacramento, Calif.)
10,000m – Amy Hastings (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Lisa Uhl (Portland, Ore.), Janet Bawcom (Rome, Ga.)
20 km Race Walk – Maria Michta (Nesconset, N.Y.)
Marathon – Shalane Flanagan (Portland, Ore.), Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.), Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.)
100m Hurdles – Dawn Harper (Los Angeles, Calif.), Kellie Wells (Orlando, Fla.), Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, La.)
400m Hurdles – Lashinda Demus (Palmdale, Calif.) , Georganne Moline (Tucson, Ariz.), T’erea Brown (Miami, Fla.)
High Jump – Chaunte Lowe (Loganville, Ga.), Brigetta Barrett (Tucson, Ariz.), Amy Acuff (Isleton, Calif.)
Pole Vault – Jenn Suhr (Churchville, N.Y.), Becky Holliday (Jonesboro, Ark.), Lacy Janson (Sarasota, Fla.)
Long Jump – Brittney Reese (Gulfport, Miss.), Chelsea Hayes (Ruston, La.), Janay Deloach (Fort Collins, Colo.)
Triple Jump – Amanda Smock (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Shot Put – Jill Camarena-Williams (Tucson, Ariz.), Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas), Tia Brooks (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Discus Throw – Stephanie Brown Trafton (Galt, Calif.), Aretha Thurmond (Opelika, Alabama), Gia Lewis-Smallwood (Champaign, Ill.)
Hammer Throw – Amber Campbell (Myrtle Beach, Calif.), Amanda Bingson (Las Vegas, Nev.), Jessica Cosby (Mission Hills, Calif.)
Javelin Throw – Brittany Borman (Norman, Okla.), Kara Patterson (Chula Vista, Calif.), Rachel Yurkovich (Eugene, Ore.),
Heptathlon – Hyleas Fountain (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Sharon Day (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Chantae McMillan (Rolla, Mo.)
Relay Pool - Jeneba Tarmoh (San Jose, Calf.), Bianca Knight (Austin, Texas), Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.), Debbie Dunn (Norfolk, Va.), Diamond Dixon (Lawrence, Kan.), Keshia Baker (Los Angeles, Calif.)

About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.