INDIANAPOLIS — With a string of perfect 10s, Laura Wilkinson and Troy Dumais appear to be Beijing bound.
Wilkinson, who won gold on the 10-meter platform at the 2000 Olympics, showed she’s still the boss of the tower at the U.S. Olympic Trials, holding off a challenger half her age in the semifinals Friday night.
The 30-year-old Texan received at least one 10 on three of her five dives and finished with 813.20 points. She had a comfortable advantage over 15-year-old Haley Ishimatsu, who finished with four 10s and the highest-scoring dive of the night but was still only second at 757.55.
Wilkinson can lock up her third trip to the Olympics in the finals Sunday.
“I felt a lot more confident,” she said. “I knew what (Ishimatsu) was doing, but I was kind of oblivious at the same time.”
Dumais, declaring he will settle for nothing less than gold in Beijing, was just as good in the semis of 3-meter springboard. The two-time Olympian received 10s on three of his six dives to build a commanding lead with 1038.30. Chris Colwill was second at 961.00.
The springboard finals are Saturday.
Dumais, a 28-year-old native of Ventura, Calif., finished sixth on springboard at the last two Olympics. He has bigger goals than just making it a third time.
“If I can’t make it to the Olympics, then I can’t win gold,” Dumais said. “It’s gold or go home for me.”
Twenty-time national champion Mark Ruiz, who retired after the 2004 Athens Games but returned nine months ago, plunged to 11th in the springboard semifinals, beating out only one other diver.
