American athletes will compete across 19 sports, and among their leading contenders for gold this summer is swimmer Jessica Long (pictured top).

Long won six medals at Beijing 2008, including four golds, while wheelchair racer Jessica Galli won five, among them the 400 metres T53 title.

Jerome Singleton is another high-profile Paralympian selected, and the T44 100m world champion will hope to put one over on South Africa's reigning champion Oscar Pistorius.

April Holmes, who won the women's version of the same event in Beijing, is another with major ambitions for London, while Tatyana McFadden (pictured below) is going for gold in five events.

The T54 wheelchair racer claimed four medals in 2008, although none was gold.


The US also have realistic gold medal chances in the women's goalball and wheelchair basketball.

"When the 2012 London Olympic Games come to a close on Sunday, the eyes of the world will turn to the Paralympic Games and the more than 4,000 athletes competing," said United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chief executive Scott Blackmun.

"Each of the 227 Americans named to the 2012 US Paralympic team today are ready to captivate the world, on and off the field of play, just as our Olympians have."

Among those selected are 20 US military veterans and active duty service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Chef de Mission of the US delegation is Aimee Mullins, a member of the Paralympic team at Atlanta 1996, who broke 100m, 200m and long jump world records during her career.

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