Happy 18th Birthday Gabby Douglas: Check out the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Before the Fame!

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Gabby Douglas as a Kid and Gabrielle Douglas in 2012

What can you say about a 18-year-old with an irrepressible smile and two Olympic gold medals to her name—including the coveted women’s gymnastics all-around? When it’s Virginia Beach native Gabby Douglas, you can say: Go, Flying Squirrel! After the first-place finish of the girls’ team, Douglas took personal gold by the slimmest of margins, with Russia’s Viktoria Komova less than three tenths of a point behind. Douglas celebrated with her coach, Liang Chow—whose instruction to avoid looking at the scoreboard she didn’t quite manage to follow, admitting that she peeked “after vault, and bars, and beam, and floor.”

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Candace Parker as a Student at Illinois’ Naperville Central High School and Candace Parker in 2012

Candace Parker comes from what can only be called a basketball family. She was the first female high school player to dunk the ball; she told USA Today that she wore number 32 because “it’s the number my father wore playing at the University of Iowa.” Her big brother, Anthony Parker, played for several NBA teams. Her husband, Shelden Williams, plays for the New Jersey Nets. After playing at the University of Tennessee, she was the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft and now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks. This is Parker’s second trip to the Games—she was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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Hope Solo as a Student at Washington’s Richland High School in 1999 and Hope Solo in 2012

The U.S. women’s soccer team goalie has never backed away from speaking her mind—even when it means courting controversy. She recently told ESPN, “There’s a lot of sex going on” at the Olympic Village. Solo—who plays for the Seattle Reign and won a gold medal with the 2008 U.S. Olympic team—is also known for her style sense. In 2011, she and her Dancing with the Stars partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy made it all the way to the semifinals. In 2012, she released her autobiography Solo: A Memoir of Hope.

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Kerri Walsh As a Senior at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, CA, in 1996 and Kerri Walsh in 2012

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Kerri Walsh as a Senior at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California, in 1996 and Kerri Walsh in 2012

Beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh and her partner Misty May-Treanor are two-time Olympic champions, having taken gold in the 2004 and 2008 Games. As a high schooler, Walsh played indoor volleyball but found her true calling when she took to the beach. Her husband, Casey Jennings, is also a pro beach volleyball player. Despite a painful-looking case of conjunctivitis, Walsh took care of business with May-Treanor and got gold medal number three.

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Kobe Bryant As a Freshman at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, PA, in 1993 and Kobe Bryant in 2012

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Kobe Bryant as a Freshman at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in 1993 and Kobe Bryant in 2012

Kobe Bryant has always been a star; picked Most Likely to Succeed in high school, Bryant skipped college and went straight into the NBA, where he’s played for the L.A. Lakers—and won five NBA championships—since 1996. A member of the 2008 gold medal-winning team, he’s a bona fide international superstar. In fact, after an Olympic match against the Tunisian team, one of the opposing players presented him with his sneaker and a pen and asked for his autograph.

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LeBron James As a Sophomore at St. Vincent—St. Mary in Akron, OH, in 2001 and Lebron James in 2012

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LeBron James as a Sophomore at St. Vincent—St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, in 2001 and LeBron James in 2012

LeBron James is one of Ohio’s favorite native sons—well, at least he was until that shall-not-be-discussed trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat in 2010. Like his Olympic teammate Kobe Bryant, James went straight from high school into the NBA. And like Bryant, James was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that won gold. And although he too is one of the biggest sports stars in the world, James still occasionally gets rejected—Olympic swimmer Lauren Perdue turned down a dinner invitation from @KingJames.

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McKayla Maroney in high school and McKayla Maroney in 2012

What’s that—another 18-year-old gymnastics star? You bet. Being touted by her legion fans as a mini Victoria Beckham look-alike, McKayla Maroney had a pretty clear goal early on—check out her prediction in an elementary school yearbook. Not only was she in the Olympics; she’s also walked away with a silver medal. And as for her invaluable contribution to Team USA (with a broken toe, no less!), well: It’s hard to say where exactly those .267 in deductions came from—her Amanar vault in the team finals was as close to perfect as we’ve ever seen.

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McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross as Kids and McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross in 2012

Sure, they’re teammates—and, sometimes, competitors. But in the case of two U.S. Olympic gymnasts, the connection goes far deeper (and a lot longer). McKayla Maroney and Kyla Ross, her 17-year-old teammate, met as six-year-olds in the same gymnastics club and have been BFFs ever since. As Maroney wrote on her Facebook page, “Once upon a time two little best friends from California were dreaming about the Olympics... They trained together, both make the Olympics... And the rest is history.”

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Michael Phelps as a Freshman at Maryland’s Towson High School in 2000 and Michael Phelps in 2012

It’s hard to imagine any Olympic athlete more celebrated—or scrutinized—than Michael Phelps. And for good reason: He is now officially the most-decorated Olympian of all time. (He has 22 at last count.) Phelps realized what that 19th record-breaking medal (another gold; he has 15 of those) meant for his legacy too: “I started smiling with about 20 meters to go. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that,” he told USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach.

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Misty May As a Junior at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, CA, in 1994 and Misty May-Treanor in 2012

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Misty May as a Junior at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, California, in 1994 and Misty May-Treanor in 2012

Even as a kid, Misty May was an avid beach volleyball player, competing at age 8 with her dad in her first tournament. She helped her high school team to two championships—and played against her future partner Kerri Walsh in both high school and college. In 2000 she and her then-partner Holly McPeak qualified for the Sydney Olympics but finished a disappointing fifth. In 2001 she teamed with Kerri Walsh, and the two have been the most dominant force in women’s beach volleyball ever since, winning gold in both the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

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Natalie Coughlin As a Senior at Carondelet High School in Concord, CA, in 2000 and Natalie Coughlin in 2012

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Natalie Coughlin as a Senior at Carondelet High School in Concord, California, in 2000 and Natalie Coughlin in 2012

With the bronze Natalie Coughlin earned in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, she tied Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson as the most-medaled female American swimmer in Olympic history. But she didn’t necessarily do it the way she would’ve liked: She was replaced for the finals after swimming in a preliminary qualifying race earlier. Coughlin seems to be passing the torch on to young upcoming stars like Missy Franklin—who is featured prominently in this positively adorable video Coughlin shared on her website of the U.S. Olympic swimming team lip-synching to “Call Me Maybe.”

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Serena Williams in Sixth Grade at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach, FL, in 1993 and Serena Williams in 2012

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Serena Williams in Sixth Grade at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach, Florida, in 1993 and Serena Williams in 2012

Serena Williams is on a hot streak, including her fifth Wimbledon title. “We have a chance to win a medal. That's what it's all about,” Williams said about her hopes for the Olympics. Interestingly, the Williams sisters weren’t the only American siblings who were in medal contention for the U.S. Olympic tennis team; identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan, a.k.a. the Bryan Bros., were top-seeded in men’s doubles.

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Venus Williams in Seventh Grade at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach, FL, in 1993 and Venus Williams in 2012

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Venus Williams in Seventh Grade at Carver Middle School in Delray Beach, Florida, in 1993 and Venus Williams in 2012

The former No. 1 ranked women’s tennis player in the world was no longer onn the hunt for an individual gold. Barrier breaker, fashion designer and on-court icon Venus Williams won a gold in doubles (with her sister Serena), she now single-handedly owns the record for most Olympic gold medals in tennis (she’s currently tied with British legend R.F. Doherty, who died more than a century ago).