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Photo by Tony Metaxas

Update: Laura Wilkinson failed to successfully defend her Olympic title in diving, coming in fifth place instead. Still, she continues to show the heart of a champion—a champion for Christ. Click here to read the online journal entry that Laura posted on her website the day after her disappointing loss.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It's been four years since a teary-eyed Laura Wilkinson recited those words before an international TV audience after twisting and tumbling from a 10-meter diving platform to win an Olympic gold medal in Sydney—something no other U.S. female diver had done since 1964. Those words were no spiritual cliché for Wilkinson, who had spent the six months leading up to the 2000 Olympics overcoming a series of personal and physical obstacles, including a broken foot and the news that her friend and spiritual mentor, Chuck Knesel, was dying of cancer.

Today, the 26-year-old Texas native is preparing for her second Olympic appearance. Bubbly and energetic, she sits in the kitchen of the suburban Houston home that she shares with her husband, swimming coach Eriek Hulseman.

"That moment in Sydney was not just about a gold medal; it was the culmination of many events that God used in my life over a two-year period to get my attention," Wilkinson explains.

She believes the 1998 Goodwill Games was actually the pivotal moment in her life and her career. It was during that event that Laura asked God to forgive her and take back control of her life.

"I had become a Christian years earlier, but like many people do, I wandered away. But right before the Goodwill Games, I started having a lot of trouble with one of my dives, and I really started to unravel emotionally," she says.

After asking a Christian colleague to pray for her, Wilkinson found herself crying out to God during the competition.

The four years since her golden moment in Australia have given Wilkinson her share of fame, but she especially values the opportunities she now has to share her testimony.

"In the past several years my faith and how it fit with my diving was always very black and white to me, but this year I have been working on bringing Jesus into everything I do," she says. "I was recently doing an interview with this newspaper reporter from Montreal, and I was able to bring God into the conversation. I was so excited that I was able to share with this man what I believe!"

Wilkinson also counts among her blessings a newfound partnership with Kimiko Hirai-Soldati, a fellow diver and Christian with whom Wilkinson competes in synchronized diving. "One of the favorite things Kimiko and I do when we dive together is stand on the platform singing worship songs before we dive," Wilkinson says, laughing. "No one else may know what we're doing up there, but we know that's our moment to praise God together."

Does Wilkinson, who's one of the favorites to win in Greece, feel any pressure to repeat her 2000 performance? She smiles and shakes her head. "No matter what happens in Athens, I just want to be obedient to use [my opportunities] in whatever ways God has for me."

Editor's Note: For more info about Laura, visit her website at www.laurawilkinson.com.

Kris Rasmussen is a writer based in Michigan.

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