Road to Rio: Gibsonia's Klingenberg booting to Brazil

In 2012, Meghan Klingenberg was an alternate for Team USA in the women's soccer competition of the London Olympics. Now, she's earned an official spot for the 2016 Rio Olympics in August.

Klingenberg, a Pittsburgh native, currently plays professionally for the Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League. She's been with the U.S. Women's National team since her days on the U-16 squad. She played with the senior team in 2011 before earning an alternate spot for the 2012 London Games. By the 2015 World Cup, Klingenberg had become a staple for the USWNT, starting in every game of the team's World Cup title run.



USA coach Jill Ellis announced Klingenberg as a defender on the team and one of 11 on the squad who will make their Olympic debuts this summer.

"I think she was pretty complete, and what I mean by that is balanced in her attacking and her defending, at the World Cup," Ellis told OregonLive.com. "If Meghan is in a good place mentally and physically, she's going to give us her very best."

Other key members of the team, announced Tuesday, include captains Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn as well as Hope Solo. Lloyd and Solo, along with Tobin Heath, join a list of 12 other U.S. players to be named to three Olympic rosters. Christie Rampone, now 41, is the only U.S. player to play in four Olympic Games.

"The last few camps capped a nine-month evaluation process and the players certainly made it a real challenge to narrow the roster down to 18," Ellis said. "We’ve got a great blend of players with experience at the Olympic Games and in major events along with the youthful energy of some players who did not play in the Women’s World Cup last summer. As a coach in the Olympic Games, you want to put together a group capable of reaching the top of the podium while also being mindful of getting players prepared for the next World Cup, and I think we’ve done that."