Wilkinson continues improbable comeback
Gold medalist in 2000 sits in 9th, makes the cut for Sunday’s finals
Laura Wilkinson, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist, extended her improbable comeback for another night Wednesday, qualifying in ninth place through two rounds at the USA Diving women’s 10-meter platform Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.
Wilkinson, 43, performing in front of an audience at the Indiana University natatorium that included her husband, their four children and her parents, made the 12-competitor cut for Sunday’s finals with 25 points to spare.
She scored 257.85 points for the first round of five dives and virtually duplicated that performance in the five-dive semifinal round for a two-round score of 514.55.
2016 Olympian Katrina Young of Tallahassee, Fla., qualified first with 663.5 points, followed by former University of Texas diver Murphy Bromberg of Bexley, Ohio, at 656.65 points. Delaney Schnell of Tucson, Ariz., and Jessica Parratto of Indianapolis rounded out the top four.
In the audience were Wilkinson’s husband, Eriek Hulseman, and her parents, Ed and Linda Wilkinson, who also were on hand when she shocked the world by winning the 2000 Olympic gold medal in Sydney after suffering a crushed foot earlier in the year in a practice injury.
For this event, though, the adults were joined by the couple’s children, Arella, Zoe, Zadok and Dakaia.
Only the top two divers in the field of 12 will qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, so Wilkinson’s chances for a fourth Olympics are limited. However, she told NBC Sports that she relishes the chance to dive once more after retiring in 2008 and doing so in front of her children.
“It is fun,” she said. “You have to make a commitment to enjoy it, no matter how it turns out. My kids are in the stands. To me, that is pretty special for them to be here in this environment and to be here with these amazing ladies who are doing a terrific job.”
Wilkinson in 2018 underwent spinal fusion surgery to address issues that cropped up during her last year as a competitor, which ended at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her training opportunities have been limited because the lack of available 10-meter diving towers in the Houston area. She has been training in recent weeks at Texas A&M.
While she made the finals, only on her first dive did she manage scores in the 7-point range on diving’s 10-point scoring system.
Entering the semifinals in 10th place after the morning qualifying round, she pulled up to eighth place with a 6.7-point average on an inward 3½-somersault dive but dropped to 13th when she underrotated her landing on a forward 3½ dive.
She remained in the 5- to 6-point range on her final three dives but performed with sufficient consistency to qualify for the finals with room to spare.
While she has another round to go, Wilkinson indicated in her remarks to NBC that she is preparing for her diving career to end once more.
“I feel like I really didn’t hit anything today,” she said. “I would love to come back and have a final list of dives before hanging up the suit and feel good about that.
“I never thought I would get to come back and dive again after I retired 13 years ago, so this is really a gift. Every dive is a gift. I love doing it, and it’s pretty special.”