Ex-Olympic champ Wilkinson grooms her 'killer' dive

Ex-Olympic champ Wilkinson grooms her 'killer' dive

Former champion Laura Wilkinson of the United States is looking to bow out of her last Olympic Games in style with a Beijing gold medal as she prepares to dazzle her rivals with a 'killer dive'.

The 30-year-old, who won a platform gold at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, is retiring after a 15-year career and is looking to unleash a knock-out dive when competition begins at Beijing's National Aquatic Centre on Sunday.

Wilkinson is grooming a spectacular back two and a half sommersault with two and a half twists going into a pike as she bids to win the second Olympic gold of her career.

"I am working on a killer dive in training, it has been going well, but the coaches aren't sure if we will use it in the competition, we will have to wait and see," said the 2005 world platform champion.

"It's a complex dive, there are a lot of things going on, but it has been going well in training.

"It's all about getting a good technical start, the start is the key and the hardest thing to pull off."

With 14 years experience on the United States team behind her, Wilkinson is one of his team's best chances of taking gold in the Beijing pool.

"All the pieces are there for me to win another gold, but it will come down to who is on their mental game on the day," said the Texan.

"This will be my last Olympic games and I have set myself the target of making it my best ever.

"It was a dream for me in Sydney, it was my first games and I won a gold medal was just amazing.

"I enjoyed Athens, where I came fifth, my dives were good and I did the things I wanted to do, but others were simply better on the day."