Erica Wu

The 15-year-old Wu earned the third women’s spot on the U.S. team thanks to the automatic qualification of fellow teenagers and close friends Ariel Hsing and Lily Zhang. She defeated teammate Judy Hugh to finish third among Americans during the qualification tournament in April to become eligible for the London Games. Wu has played table tennis since the age of 7, opting to solely focus on the sport at the age of 9. She showed early promise when she finished second in the 2007 U.S. Open in the 11-and-under division and became a member of the U.S. national junior team in 2009. Two years later, Wu turned in a solid effort in the national championships by reaching the semifinals in singles and winning the doubles event with her coach, Gao Jun. She is coached by the legendary Gao, a silver medalist in doubles for China at the 1992 Barcelona Games and naturalized American citizen who competed in three subsequent Olympics for the United States.