MELBOURNE diver Loudy Wiggins might be 33, a mother and just competed in her fourth Olympics.
But that hasn’t stopped her talking about joining the Australian Olympic Team for a fifth Olympic campaign.
Her biggest barrier, however, wouldn’t be age or parenthood but whether husband – and former Carlton footballer Simon Wiggins – would “let me”.
Wiggins won bronze medals in Sydney and Athens, and finished fourth in this week’s 10m syncro diving with Queenslander Rachel Bugg.
Asked if she would like to compete in a fifth Games, she said: “I do but my husband is standing over there.”
Nine personality Lisa Wilkinson, who was interviewing Wiggins at a ‘London Olympic Garden Party’, then turned to Simon in the crowd.
“Surely you’re going to let her go to Rio, it would be un-Australian not to,” she joked.
Wiggins said missing Beijing through injury increased her hunger to make a comeback.
“I’d moved on to corporate life, got married, had a baby and about a year ago I decided I’d like to give London a try,” she said.
“To be here is such an honour and I think being outside the sport has helped me realise how special it is.”
Bugg, her diving partner, said even Olympic divers still get frightened on the 10m platform.
“Any platform diver would agree that you never get over that fear, it’s just how you deal with it each time,” she said.
“It’s just as scary now as it was the first time.”
[ Source: Australian Times ]