Laura Wilkinson

1977-

American diver

Laura Wilkinson's inspiring story captured many hearts at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Wilkinson, a champion diver from the University of Texas, broke her foot only months before the Olympics but fought through the pain to defeat the heavily favored Chinese divers for the gold medal. It was the first time that an American woman had won a gold medal in platform diving since 1964.

Early Years

Wilkinson did not start diving competitively until she was 16, but she had some background in aerial acrobatics already: she had been a competitive gymnast until she was 13. (In the intervening years she stayed active, playing tennis, softball, and track and field.) She first made the U.S. national diving team in 1995, while still in high school, and that year she also won her first national competition, in synchronized platform diving.

In 1996 Wilkinson began attending the University of Texas and diving for their team. She became one of the strongest divers in the United States, winning more championships in synchronized platform and in her specialty, solo platform diving, as well as in the 3-meter springboard.

Olympic Hopes in Question

Wilkinson's dream of competing in the 2000 Olympics almost came to an end months before the Olympics began. In March 2000 she hit her right foot against a wooden board that she was jumping off of to practice her dives on dry land. She fractured three metatarsal bones and would require surgery.

The next day her coach, Ken Armstrong, knocked on her door at six o'clock in the morning and told her that he did not care if her foot had been amputated, she was going to the Olympics. There was no way that Wilkinson could have the surgery and still be ready to compete in time for the Olympics, so a cast was put on and the bones were allowed to fuse and heal just as they were. This resulted in a knot of bone on the bottom of her foot that felt, she said, like walking on a rock. The cast stayed on until just weeks before the Olympic trials, but Wilkinson used visualization and other dry-land practices to stay in the best shape that she could.

Low Expectations

Despite Wilkinson's impressive record, she was not a favorite going into the 2000 Olympics even before she broke her foot. The Chinese team had dominated the event in the previous years, winning the gold in the platform event in every Olympics since 1984. The two Chinese competitors this year, 15-year-old Sang Xue and 16-year-old Li Na, were already international champions and were heavily favored to win in Sydney as well.

Indeed, after the first round of the platform competition Li was first and Sang was second in the standings. Wilkinson was eighth, which was quite an accomplishment considering her handicaps. To climb the 40 steps to the top of the diving tower in Sydney, Wilkinson had to wear a kayaker's boot to protect her right foot. She was limited in her selection of dives, since the lump of bone on the bottom of her foot was extremely painful to run on, which ruled out dives that required running starts.

"Do It for Hilary"

The final round of the platform diving event included five dives by each of the qualifying athletes. Wilkinson gave solid performances in her first two dives, but she still trailed several other competitors. She then performed a near-perfect third dive, a reverse two-and-a-half somersault tuck, which earned a score of 9.5 from most of the judges. It would be the highest-scoring dive of the night, and it moved her into the lead. The Chinese divers could have come back to take the lead, but both of them faltered: Li garnered average scores, fives and sixes, while Sang did a belly flop and scored as low as 3.5. This was the opening that Wilkinson needed.

But Wilkinson's fourth dive was an inward two-anda-half somersault in the pike position, the dive that she had broken her foot practicing in March. It had made her nervous ever since, and just that morning she had done a poor job with it in the preliminary round. It was also painful, since to take off she had to stand on her tiptoes with much of her weight on the lump of fused bone under her right foot. She would have substituted another dive, but the rest of her dives required running starts.

As Wilkinson began climbing to the top of the platform, Armstrong told her, "Do it for Hilary." Hilary Grivich was a former member of the University of Texas diving team who had been killed in an automobile accident three years earlier. "I'm thinking, 'What is he trying to do to me?' Then, everything clicked," Wilkinson recalled to Linda Robertson of the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. "I thought of all the kids on the team who had written me good luck cards. The whole meet wasn't about winning anymore. It was about the journey." Wilkinson got to the top of the tower, recited her favorite Bible verse—"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me"—as she does before every dive, and then did her inward two-and-a-half somersault pike near perfectly, earning scores between 8.5 and 9.5. Li recovered from her poor third dive to close to within two points of Wilkinson, but in the end Li could not overtake her. Wilkinson won the gold.

Chronology

Awards and Accomplishments

After the Olympics

Wilkinson thought about retiring after the 2000 Olympics, but she found that she missed the water and the competition. After having surgery to rebreak and reset the fused bones in her right foot on November 14, 2000, she returned to competitive diving at the national outdoor championships in August 2001. She placed fifth in the platform event at the 2001 outdoor championships, but by July 2002, when that year's national championships were held, Wilkinson had reclaimed her spot as America's best platform diver. Barring any more injuries, Wilkinson should be a strong contender to win another medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: 14606 Falling Creek, Houston, TX 77068. Email: diver@laurawilkinson.com. Online: www.laurawilkinson-usa.com.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Periodicals

Barron, David. "American Medal Hopes Take a Dive in All Events." Houston Chronicle (September 28, 2000): 4.

——. "For Potter, Hometown Hero Shines." Houston Chronicle (September 25, 2000): 2.

——. "Splash of Gold." Houston Chronicle (September 25, 2000): 1.

——. "Wheaties Box Cover to Feature Wilkinson." Houston Chronicle (October 2, 2000): 3.

Campbell, Bill. "Diver Overcomes Fear to Win Gold for U.S." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (September 24, 2000): K3246.

Collison, Cathy. "U.S. Diver Wins Gold in 10-Meter Platform." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (September 24, 2000): K3236.

Farber, Michael. "Bent on Winning." Sports Illustrated (October 2, 2000): 76+.

——. "High Marks." Sports Illustrated (October 18, 2000): 64+.

Frawley, Lara. "Texas Rose Grabs Glory." Advertiser (Adelaide, Australia; September 25, 2000): L20.

Greer, Jim. "Diving Champ Takes Business Plunge." Houston Business Journal (January 26, 2001): 3.

Kaufman, Michelle. "Wilkinson's Gold an Aberration for U.S. Divers." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (September 24, 2000): K3221.

Lopez, John P. "Comeback Kid." Houston Chronicle (September 25, 2000): 1.

Robertson, Linda. "Gold Medal Diver Hits Foot on Platform but Will Compete This Week at Championships." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (August 7, 2001): K2944.

Steele, David. "Golden Surprise: U.S. Diver Laura Wilkinson Beats Pain, Heralded Opponents." San Francisco Chronicle (September 25, 2000): A1.

Zinser, Lynn. "Surprise! American Diver Wins Gold." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (September 24, 2000): K3238.

Other

"Athlete Bios: Laura Wilkinson." U.S. Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic-usa.org/cfdocs/athlete_bios/bio_template.cfm?ID=361&Sport=Diving (January 3, 2003).

"From the Athlete: Laura Wilkinson." Copernicus Education Gateway. http://www.edgate.com/summergames/inactive/from_the_athlete/laura_wilkinson.html (January 3, 2003).

Halperin, Andy. "10 Questions for … Gold Medalist Laura Wilkinson on Diving, the Olympics and Her Worst Accident." U.S. Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic-usa.org/10_questions/041902swim.html (January 3, 2003).

Sketch by Julia Bauder