WILKINSON AND HILDEBRAND HAVE DISAPPOINTING YET SATISFYING OLYMPICS

August 22, 2004

ATHENS, Greece – It was a disappointing yet satisfying night for divers Laura Wilkinson and Sara Hildebrand. Disappointing in the fact that they didn’t finish higher at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and felt they could have done better. Yet it was satisfying to have accomplished what they did.

Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) was fifth with 549.72 points and Hildebrand (St. Paul, Minn.) finished 10th with 484.77. Their semifinal scores from Saturday carried over and was added to their final round dive total.

Wilkinson, who was hoping to repeat as Olympic champion fell short in points but not in heart and desire.

“I am a little bummed,” Wilkinson said. “I wanted to have the meet of my life but it didn’t happen. I walked in wanting to have a great time, which I did, and I went after every dive. The girls standing on the podium did an incredible job and I am proud of each one of them.”

Wilkinson began competition in fourth place but fell to seventh after her first round dive when she scored a 64.32. She rebounded nicely in Rd. 3 with a score of 79.20 on her forward 3 1⁄2 somersault moving up to fourth. She dropped to fifth after the fourth round when she scored a 61.38 on a back 3 1⁄2. She would remain in fifth despite scoring a 74.46 on her final dive.

“I really wanted to hit that fourth round dive because it had been going so well in practice,” Wilkinson said. “I knew exactly what I had to do and I went out there and had a great take-off. I just came out a little bit early but I gave it all I had. After hitting the third round dive I was pretty excited and thought it was going to be like Sydney but it didn’t work out that way. Which is okay and I am fine. Life is still going to go on and I have my family and my husband so everything will be alright.”

This was Hildebrand’s second Olympic appearance but her first appearance in the final round of competition.

“I am satisfied because I did what I could do with this competition tonight and with my dives,” Hildebrand said. “Disappointed a little bit. Half of my goal was to make finals, which I did and the other half was to be top six. I was not top six so there is a little disappointment with that.”

Hildebrand, who entered the competition Sunday night in ninth place, fell to 10th after Rd. 1 and remained in 10th for the entire competition. Her highest scored dive was her last one, which was a back 2 1⁄2 somersault with 1 1⁄2 twist in the pike position scoring 70.38 points. Her lowest dive was her third dive, which was her back 3 1⁄2 scoring a 46.53.

“This Olympics has been incredible,” Hildebrand said. “This time has been a lot more memorable than Sydney. I have appreciated what I have done here and looking back I will have the great memories that I will remember.”

For Wilkinson’s coach Ken Armstrong (Conroe, Texas) Sunday night was a special night for he and Laura knowing that it might have been their last.

“It was a great competition with a deep field,” Wilkinson said. “It came down to her back 3 1⁄2 and we didn’t hit it and that was the end of the ballgame. That is fine. She went out a champion and I love her very much for that. She is one of the most amazing athletes I have every gotten the chance to work with. She has only been doing this list of dives for two years, which isn’t enough time to be really, really accurate with it and I am very excited at how well she did.”        

For Hildebrand’s coach Jeff Huber (Bloomington, Ind.) it was an accomplishment to make the finals but disappointing to have not finished higher.

“We are certainly happy that she made the finals but I think we were both expecting a little higher finish,” said Huber. “With a good day, I definitely think she is a medalist because she is that good. Tenth in the world isn’t bad. I know she has accomplished a lot in her career and would have liked to have added an Olympic medal to that.”        

When asked by reporters about competing in 2008 both Wilkinson and Hildebrand left the door open for another shot at gold. They are both going to enjoy the time they have left in Athens, starting with a manicure in the morning, and then they are looking forward to spending time with family once they return to the United States.

Next for Team USA in diving will be Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) and Justin Wilcock (Smithfield, Utah) in the men’s 3-meter springboard preliminary round on Monday, Aug. 23, at 1:30 p.m. (13:30).

Dumais will return to the Olympic Aquatic Centre after having a disappointing finish in the men’s synchronized springboard competition earlier in the Games. Wilcock will compete for the first time since suffering a back injury following Olympic Trials. The top 18 divers will advance to the semifinals on Tuesday, Aug. 24 at noon (12:00).

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USA Diving is the national governing body for the sport of diving. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Diving offers diversified programs geared toward the broadest number of diving enthusiasts, from the novice to the world champion. USA Diving conducts approximately 40 regional and national events annually, sanctions hundreds of events managed by its 350 member clubs and is responsible for training and selecting teams that represent the United States at international events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and Pan American Games.

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For additional information, please contact Ann Bleiker, diving press officer, at ann.bleiker@usoc.org or 011-30-636-677-2093. Information can also be found at www.usadiving.org, www.usolympicteam.com or www.nbcolympics.com.

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