Laura WILKINSON

Laura Wilkinson is the rare diver who won an individual gold medal at every major international meet for which she was eligible. A specialist on the platform, Wilkinson attended the University of Texas where she was NCAA Champion on platform in 1997 and 1999 and then left school to dive professionally. She had already won the platform at the 1998 Goodwill Games. She came back in 2000 from a foot fracture to win the platform gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games. Wilkinson later added gold medals at the 2005 World Championships and the 2004 World Cup. She competed in two further Olympics, finishing fifth in 2004 and ninth in 2008. She was a 19-time US Champion during her career. Retiring after the 2008 Olympics, Wilkinson began to raise a family but announced in 2017 that she was starting a comeback at age 39. In the same year, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.