Two-year countdown begins for 2012 London Games

The 2012 London Games begin two years from Tuesday, with a projected 10,500 athletes from 205 countries, including 575 Americans, competing in 26 sports. Dozens of Olympic Training Center residents are expected to compete, most notably triathlete Hunter Kemper, shooter Matt Emmons, weightlifter Casey Burgener and possibly wrestler Henry Cejudo.

The International Olympic Committee dropped baseball and softball from the Olympic program but added women's boxing and mixed doubles in tennis. London will become the first city to host the Olympics three times.

WHAT TO KNOW

Dates: July 27-Aug. 12, 2012

Official motto: Live as one

Projected cost: $14.3 billion

Nation estimate: 205

Athlete estimate: 10,500 (575 Americans)

Venues: 31

Sports: 26 in 38 disciplines, comprising 300 events

Program changes: Dropped sports – baseball and softball. Added disciplines – women’s boxing and mixed doubles in tennis. In track cycling, the men’s and women’s points races, men’s madison, men’s 4,000-meter individual pursuit and women’s 3,000 pursuit were eliminated, and the new Olympic program includes men’s and women’s competition in the individual sprint, team sprint, keirin, team pursuit and omnium, consisting of a 3-kilometer pursuit, 200-meter sprint, 1-kilometer time trial, 15-kilometer points race and 5-kilometer scratch race. In modern pentathlon, competition was reduced from five events to four with a combined run-shoot, and athletes will now use laser pistols instead of air pistols. In fencing, the women’s saber team event was eliminated.

AMERICANS TO WATCH

• Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan, badminton: Teamed for a doubles world title in 2005, the first world championship for the Americans in badminton, and Gunawan, a native of Indonesia, will receive his U.S. citizenship next year.

• Casey Burgener, weightlifting: The Olympic Training Center resident dropped a weight class to 231 pounds before winning a national title last month, his first major event since he took off last season to be with his new wife, OTC weightlifter Natalie Woolfolk.

• Henry Cejudo, wrestling: It’s unclear if the OTC resident will make a run for London because he hasn’t competed since the 2008 Beijing Games, spending the past two years as a public speaker and a clinician on the heels of a freestyle gold medal.

• Natalie Coughlin, swimming: In 2008, became the first American woman to win six medals in a single Olympics – a gold in the 100-meter backstroke; bronzes in the 100 freestyle and 200 individual medley; and two silvers and a bronze in relay events.

• Troy Dumais, diving: The 30-time national champion wants to become the first U.S. male diver to compete in four Olympics, motivated by a 3-meter silver last year at worlds and sixth-place finishes on the 3-meter at the past three Summer Games.

• Matt Emmons, shooting: The OTC resident, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and 2008 Olympic silver medalist in 50-meter rifle prone, has won three rifle 3-position golds this year in as many World Cup events, and he’s favored for worlds next month in Munich.

• Tyson Gay, track and field: Anchors U.S. hopes for 30 track and field medals in London, coming off a silver in the 100 meters at last year’s worlds that took away some of the sting from a semifinal defeat in the 100 in Beijing.

• John Isner, tennis: Hopes to make his Olympic debut at Wimbledon, where he defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set of a first-round match last month that was the longest in tennis history at 11 hours, 5 minutes.

• LeBron James, basketball: Should be well-acquainted with Team USA members Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade by the time the Americans look to defend their Olympic gold.

• Carrie Johnson, canoe/kayak: The two-time Olympian competed on the World Cup circuit this year despite having Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory disease of the intestines.

• Christina Jones, synchronized swimming: The 2008 Olympian expects a challenge at the World Cup in September in Changshu, China, her biggest test since she came out of retirement, in which she performed for Cirque du Soleil for 1½ years in Las Vegas.

• Hunter Kemper, triathlon: The OTC resident is the only American to qualify for each of the three Olympic triathlons, and when he’s healthy, he’s usually a contender, evidenced by a 10th-place finish at the world championship series opener in April in Sydney.

• Diana, Mark and Steven Lopez, taekwondo: The siblings head to London with chips on their shoulders, having left Beijing without a gold – Mark won a silver, and Diana and Steven claimed bronzes, all coached by their older brother, Jean.

• Kate Markgraf, soccer: Helped the Americans claim Olympic gold in 2008, gave birth last year to twins, a boy and a girl, and now leads the Chicago Red Stars defense in her first Women’s Professional Soccer league season.

• Hugh McCutcheon, volleyball: Returns for his second Olympic stint, this time as coach of the U.S. women’s team after guiding the American men to a gold in Beijing, where his father-in-law was stabbed to death the day after the Opening Ceremony.

• Alicia Sacramone, gymnastics: Presumably was retired after slipups in Beijing doomed the U.S. to a silver but made a comeback Saturday by winning the vault and the balance beam at the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago.

• Jessica and Maggie Steffens, water polo: The sisters have visions of keeping the Americans on the map in water polo – Jessica was part of the U.S. squad that won a silver in Beijing, and Maggie is entering her senior year in high school.

• McLain Ward and Beezie Madden, equestrian: Aiming for their third straight Olympic gold in the team jumping competition, and Beezie is hoping to improve upon the bronze she won in individual jumping in Beijing.

• Rau’shee Warren, boxing: The 2007 flyweight world champion is trying to become the first American to fight in three Olympics, fueled by first-round losses in 2004 and 2008.

• Mariel Zagunis, fencing: Has won the past two Olympic golds in women’s saber, and she was victorious last month at a World Cup in New York.

LONDON AT A GLANCE

• Population is 7.5 million.

• The biggest city in Europe at more than 620 square miles.

• The first city to have an underground railway, known as the “Tube.” Has 100-plus theaters, accounting for more than 70 percent of box-office revenues and 45 percent of theater admissions in the United Kingdom. Tallest building is the Canary Wharf Tower.

• The business and financial heart of the United Kingdom. London Heathrow Airport accommodates more international travelers than any airport in the world.

• Will become the first city to stage the Olympics three times, having also hosted in 1908 and 1948. Beat Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow in International Olympic Committee voting in 2005.

• Will host the Paralympics for the first time, from Aug. 29-Sept. 9, 2012.

THEY SAID IT

“Making the U.S. national team is an extremely challenging task, and I am training hard to make my third Olympic team. It’s such an honor to represent my country and compete alongside the world’s greatest athletes.”

ALLYSON FELIX, TRACK AND FIELD 

“The Olympic Games are only two years away, and I am already preparing for the chance to represent the USA in London. I’ve got lots of work ahead of me, but the chance to win a medal at the Olympics motivates me every day.”

TYSON GAY, TRACK AND FIELD

“My family and I were blessed in 2008 to be the first family to have three medalists at the same Olympic Games. My brother, Jean, has already been named coach of the 2012 team, so it is up to myself, Mark and Diana to do our part to have a family reunion in London and hopefully bring home some gold.”

STEVEN LOPEZ, TAEKWONDO

“The London Games are approaching quickly, and as they get closer and closer, I stay in the game by taking it one day at a time. Since I’ve already competed in the Olympic venue at the 2009 world championships and topped the podium there, I know that if I did it once, I can do it again.”

BRIDGET SLOAN, GYMNASTICS

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