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When most people think of worship, they envision joyful music, raised hands, and songs about God's goodness. Laura Wilkinson pictures a pool, a ten-meter platform, and some death-defying dives.
"I've heard worship described as using our gifts to glorify God," says the Olympic platform diver. "So diving to the best of my abilities feels like worship to me."
This worship has earned Laura many accolades, including 19 USA Diving national titles as well as gold medals at the 1998 Goodwill Games, the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and the 2004 World Cup Diving Championships. She's the only woman to win gold for platform diving in all three competitions.
Not bad for someone who's too tall and too old for her sport.
At 5'6", Laura towers over some of her 4'10" competitors. And at 30, she's twice as old as many of these girls. In fact, Laura didn't even begin diving until she was 15. "At this point in my career, I feel I should walk out onto the platform with a cane," she jokes.
But beneath Laura's self-deprecating humor and easy-going personality is a fierce competitor. It's this drive that helped her win Olympic gold at Sydney six months after she crushed her foot in a training accident. This drive helped her get back into the sport when she took two years off to complete her degree in public relations from the University of Texas at Austin. And this drive helps her excel even though she's an unlikely success story in the world of platform diving.
When she's not jumping into pools at competitions around the world, Laura resides in Texas with her husband, Eriek; their dogs, Charlie and Sam; and their cats, Nikki and Callie. She also speaks at Christian conferences, including The Revolve Tour for teen girls, and fundraises for The Laura Wilkinson Foundation to benefit young athletes.
TCW talked with Laura during her final weeks of preparation for the Beijing Olympics to get her thoughts on the fear of falling, the challenge of winning, and the blessing of failing.
How do you excel at diving despite being an unlikely athlete in this sport?
I don't jump the highest. I don't spin the fastest. I don't have the best entry. But I'm pretty good at all those things. One of my gifts is being a copycat, simulating what other people do well. At the same time, I know diving is what God made me to do. For some reason, he took someone not the right build for diving and gave me success. I think that's cool—and says a lot about God and how he likes to use unlikely things and people.
What's been your favorite Olympic experience?
It was a moment right before my last dive in Sydney. I'd been diving really well. I had no idea if I was in first place, but I knew I was in the hunt for a medal. Standing on the platform, I looked out over the audience and the pool and tried to memorize the moment. I realized in that instant I was living my dream. Whether I won a medal or not, I was experiencing an Olympic moment I'd always hoped for.
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