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Wilkinson survives scare to advance from platform preliminaries
2004-08-20
ATHENS, Greece - American Laura Wilkinson saved her best dive for last, allowing the defending Olympic gold medalist to advance from the preliminaries of 10-meter platform diving Friday.Olena Zhupina of Ukraine led the preliminaries with 371.10 - a bit of a surprise considering China's domination of the sport. The Chinese had won four straight women's platform titles until Wilkinson's improbable victory at the 2000 Sydney Games. Lao Lishi settled for fourth after the prelims with 348.93, while teammate Li Ting was seventh at 339.69. The duo teamed up to win the synchronized platform on Monday. Australia's Loudy Tourky was second with 367.23, followed by Canada's Emilie Heymans at 351.12. Wilkinson, 26, was mired in 18th place - none of her first four dives was especially sharp - and facing the prospect of being eliminated from her only event of the Athens Games. Only the top 18 moved on to Saturday's semifinals. But Wilkinson came through on her final dive, a backward 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists. Her spins were crisp, her entry into the water smooth, resulting in scores of 7.5 and 8.0. That was enough to move the American up to 13th place with 314.19 points. ``I'm confident in all my dives,'' Wilkinson said. ``Unfortunately, it wasn't there today, but it's going to make me come back strong.'' Sara Hildebrand of the United States, who competed in the Sydney Games under her maiden name of Reiling, also advanced to the semifinals. She was just behind Wilkinson in 14th place with 308.49. Wilkinson rallied from fifth place to win gold in 2000, taking advantage when everyone ahead of her made major mistakes. She was the first American woman since 1964 to win the 10-meter platform. Her victory was derided by some rivals as a fluke, inspiring Wilkinson to return for another Olympics and prove she is one of the world's best divers. Wilkinson competed four years ago with bone protruding into the sole of her foot, the result of a training accident six months before the Olympics. She was forced to wear a kayak shoe on deck, taking it off only when she dove, and underwent surgery right after the games. This time, Wilkinson was healthy and eager to join American Pat McCormick (1952, 1956) and China's Fu Mingxia (1992, 1996) as back-to-back winners of the women's platform. The field will be reduced again during the semifinals, with only the top 12 advancing to Sunday's final. AP
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