Laura Ann Wilkinson (born November 17, 1977, in Houston, Texas) is an Americandiver, 3 time Olympian, and Olympic gold medalist. She is the first woman to win the three major diving world titles.[1] Wilkinson retired in 2008. After nine years of retirement, she returned to competition in 2017 and placed 2nd at Nationals. She trained for her fourth Olympic Games (2021) at Texas A&M University's swimming and diving facilities but did not qualify.[2]
Wilkinson was born and raised in Houston, Texas and lived with her parents, Ed and Linda Wilkinson. She attended Klein High School in Houston before going to University of Texas. As a child, Wilkinson was a gymnast, but had to give up on the sport after a growth spurt during puberty made her too tall to continue. It was then that she turned to diving. When she first started diving, a teacher told her she was too old to start a new sport and was later kicked off her high school team because they thought she was a "waste of space".[3] Wilkinson is a 2001 graduate of the University of Texas, where she majored in public relations. While attending school on a scholarship, she decided that she would rather put school on hold and go after her dream to become an Olympian. She trained in The Woodlands, Texas.
Careeredit
Wilkinson's interest in the sport began as she was swimming in the gym's pool and watched a young female diver in training execute an impressive dive. Her first jump off the 10 meter platform didn't occur until she was 15 years old. She took up platform diving and joined the U.S. National Team in 1995.
2000 Summer Olympicsedit
Six months prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics, Wilkinson suffered a serious foot injury that kept her out of action for a couple of months. She employed a visualization technique to practice her dives during this time, and wasn't fully healed when she qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Still in pain from her foot injury, she landed in eighth place after the first of five dives in the platform finals. She went on to earn the first gold medal for a female American platform diver since 1964.[4]
2004 Summer Olympicsedit
Wilkinson finished in fifth place at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but had left an impact on her competitors. Several of them repeated the techniques she used at the 2000 Olympics by starting their dives with a handstand.
2008 Summer Olympicsedit
On June 26, 2008, Wilkinson qualified as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Diving Team in diving by taking first place in the trials. She announced her retirement and this Olympics would be her final competition.
2020 Olympic Gamesedit
In 2017, after nine years of retirement, Wilkinson returned to competition and placed 2nd at U.S. Nationals. She trained full-time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—which would have been her fourth Olympic Games (delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic), but did not qualify for the team.[5][4]
Personal lifeedit
Wilkinson is married to Eriek Hulseman. They welcomed their first child, a girl, Arella Joy, on May 11, 2011. In December 2012, they adopted a baby from China named Zoe. Wilkinson gave birth to a son, Zadok, in January 2014.[3] Their fourth child, Dakaia, joined the family from Ethiopia in March 2018. She also travels around the country speaking to girls at The Revolve Tour, a Christian girls' conference.[6] She had major surgery on her neck in 2018 to repair damage to discs injured by her diving career.[1]
Referencesedit
^ abAmy Wray and Rachael Scott. "Olympic diver and gold medalist attempts comeback after nearly a decade in retirement". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
^"End of an era: Laura Wilkinson's Olympics bid comes up short". 14 June 2021.
^ ab. web.archive.org. 25 March 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
^ abWallace, Ava (29 April 2020). "Diver Laura Wilkinson pursues comeback with four new training partners: Her children". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
^Shinn, Peggy (April 21, 2020). . Team USA. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020.
^Wilkinson, Laura (Dec 17, 2012). "Learning to fly, but I ain't got wings: Bittersweet Homecoming". Retrieved Jul 4, 2021.
laura, wilkinson, this, article, about, diver, home, economist, born, 1843, laura, starr, ware, wilkinson, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, livin. This article is about the diver For the home economist born 1843 see Laura Starr Ware Wilkinson This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Laura Wilkinson news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Laura Ann Wilkinson born November 17 1977 in Houston Texas is an American diver 3 time Olympian and Olympic gold medalist She is the first woman to win the three major diving world titles 1 Wilkinson retired in 2008 After nine years of retirement she returned to competition in 2017 and placed 2nd at Nationals She trained for her fourth Olympic Games 2021 at Texas A amp M University s swimming and diving facilities but did not qualify 2 Laura WilkinsonPersonal informationFull nameLaura Ann WilkinsonBorn 1977 11 17 November 17 1977 age 46 Houston TexasHome townSpring TexasHeight5 ft 6 in 1 68 m SportCountryUnited StatesEvent s 3m 3m synchro 10m 10m synchroClubWoodlands Diving TeamMedal record Women s divingRepresenting the United StatesOlympic Games2000 Sydney 10 m platformWorld Championships2005 Montreal 10 m platform Contents 1 Background 2 Career 2 1 2000 Summer Olympics 2 2 2004 Summer Olympics 2 3 2008 Summer Olympics 2 4 2020 Olympic Games 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External linksBackground editWilkinson was born and raised in Houston Texas and lived with her parents Ed and Linda Wilkinson She attended Klein High School in Houston before going to University of Texas As a child Wilkinson was a gymnast but had to give up on the sport after a growth spurt during puberty made her too tall to continue It was then that she turned to diving When she first started diving a teacher told her she was too old to start a new sport and was later kicked off her high school team because they thought she was a waste of space 3 Wilkinson is a 2001 graduate of the University of Texas where she majored in public relations While attending school on a scholarship she decided that she would rather put school on hold and go after her dream to become an Olympian She trained in The Woodlands Texas Career editWilkinson s interest in the sport began as she was swimming in the gym s pool and watched a young female diver in training execute an impressive dive Her first jump off the 10 meter platform didn t occur until she was 15 years old She took up platform diving and joined the U S National Team in 1995 2000 Summer Olympics edit Six months prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics Wilkinson suffered a serious foot injury that kept her out of action for a couple of months She employed a visualization technique to practice her dives during this time and wasn t fully healed when she qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics Still in pain from her foot injury she landed in eighth place after the first of five dives in the platform finals She went on to earn the first gold medal for a female American platform diver since 1964 4 2004 Summer Olympics edit Wilkinson finished in fifth place at the 2004 Summer Olympics but had left an impact on her competitors Several of them repeated the techniques she used at the 2000 Olympics by starting their dives with a handstand 2008 Summer Olympics edit On June 26 2008 Wilkinson qualified as a member of the 2008 U S Olympic Diving Team in diving by taking first place in the trials She announced her retirement and this Olympics would be her final competition 2020 Olympic Games edit In 2017 after nine years of retirement Wilkinson returned to competition and placed 2nd at U S Nationals She trained full time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which would have been her fourth Olympic Games delayed until 2021 due to the COVID 19 global pandemic but did not qualify for the team 5 4 Personal life editWilkinson is married to Eriek Hulseman They welcomed their first child a girl Arella Joy on May 11 2011 In December 2012 they adopted a baby from China named Zoe Wilkinson gave birth to a son Zadok in January 2014 3 Their fourth child Dakaia joined the family from Ethiopia in March 2018 She also travels around the country speaking to girls at The Revolve Tour a Christian girls conference 6 She had major surgery on her neck in 2018 to repair damage to discs injured by her diving career 1 References edit a b Amy Wray and Rachael Scott Olympic diver and gold medalist attempts comeback after nearly a decade in retirement CNN Retrieved 2020 10 04 End of an era Laura Wilkinson s Olympics bid comes up short 14 June 2021 a b Wired Differently 2000 Olympic Diving Champ Laura Wilkinson Returns At Age 39 web archive org 25 March 2018 Retrieved 20 November 2023 a b Wallace Ava 29 April 2020 Diver Laura Wilkinson pursues comeback with four new training partners Her children Washington Post Retrieved 2020 07 25 Shinn Peggy April 21 2020 Diving Back In Now 42 Olympic Gold Medalist Laura Wilkinson Sees Olympic Postponement As A Gift Team USA Archived from the original on April 25 2020 Wilkinson Laura Dec 17 2012 Learning to fly but I ain t got wings Bittersweet Homecoming Retrieved Jul 4 2021 External links editOfficial website Laura Wilkinson at World Aquatics nbsp Laura Wilkinson at TeamUSA org archived nbsp Laura Wilkinson at Olympics com nbsp Laura Wilkinson at Olympedia nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Laura Wilkinson amp oldid 1186071269, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
