21-year-old D.C. native Tyrieshia Douglas, who spent some of her youth in Washington’s foster care system and picked up boxing at age 16, wants to represent the United States at the Olympics in 2012. Paging Mike Panetta!

Women’s boxing was finally added to the program for the London 2012 games after years spent trying to get it recognized. Douglas, who says she knocked out the first five opponents she fought, looks like a real contender to earn a ticket to the U.K. as a flyweight competitor. Douglas’ main competition appears to be four-time national champion Marlen Esparza of Houston, who defeated Douglas at this summer’s amateur national championships. But Douglas really opened eyes during the tournament for her drive and ability to hang with the best competition despite the fact that some thought she was hard done by the officiating.

It looks like she’s got the skills, based on the above PBS NewsHour piece (a tip of the cap to Amanda Hess for the footage). We’ll be pulling hard for Douglas to bring some D.C. representation to the Olympic stage.