Strong finish saves Wilkinson

Laura Wilkinson will defend her 10-meter gold medal in the Olympics.
ST. PETERS, Mo. (AP) -- After posing for the Olympic team picture and signing a few autographs, Laura Wilkinson was approached by a young fan.
"I was so nervous for you," he said.
"Nothing like a little drama," Wilkinson said, managing a smile.
Going right to her last dive on the 10-meter platform, she survived a scare at the U.S. trials Sunday and earned a chance to defend her gold medal in Athens.
Wilkinson, a surprise Olympic champion in the event four years ago, nailed a backward pike 21/2 somersault with 11/2 twists to beat Brittany Viola, the high school daughter of former major league pitcher Frank Viola.
"I like that dive," Wilkinson said. "That's why I put it last. It's just fun and not as hard as some of the other ones for me."
Nursed a slim lead
She went to the final round with a scant 5.37-point lead over Viola, facing the improbable prospect of missing the Olympics altogether. Wilkinson already had been beaten in synchronized platform.
Unlike past trials, when the top two in each event made the team, only the winner was guaranteed a spot this time.
"I was pretty aware of the scores at this contest," Wilkinson said. "I knew I had missed some dives. I wanted to know what I had to do."
Viola, going four divers ahead of Wilkinson, over-rotated the entry on her final attempt, the telltale splash leading to mediocre scores ranging from 5.5 to 6.0.
Still, Wilkinson couldn't afford to bobble on her last dive, which has the highest degree of difficulty in her repertoire.
The 26-year-old Texan didn't waver a bit, quickly walking to the edge of the 33-foot-high platform, balancing on her toes and hurling herself toward the pool at more than 30 mph.
Near-perfect form
She cut through the water with near-perfect form, barely making a ripple. The crowd roared, and Wilkinson came up with a smile on her face, not even needing to see the scores to know she was going back to the Olympics.
Her marks: a row of 9s broken up by one 8.5, giving her a total of 878.85 points. The precarious lead became a relatively comfortable victory over Viola, who settled for second with 836.40.
Viola was a surprising challenger. Only 17, she just finished her junior year of high school in Orlando, Fla. Her father, a Cy Young Award winner and World Series MVP, cheered her on from the stands.
Because of IOC rules limiting the number of spots for each country, Viola won't be on the Olympic team. The second spot in platform went to the highest-scoring member of the winning synchro team, Sara Hildebrand.
Hildebrand, who competed in Sydney under her maiden name of Reiling, finished fifth with 809.88 points. She will dive synchro with Cassandra Cardinell, who was eighth in the individual event.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.