FORT LAUDERDALE — Laura Wilkinson has already won a gold medal, but she thinks she still hasn't performed her best.

Wilkinson won gold at the 2000 Sydney Games. Her upset of the Chinese women divers in the 10-meter platform competition resonates seven years later, as does her smile and fierce competitiveness.

Wilkinson, 29, wants to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics - and beat the Chinese again.

"I've seen one athlete stronger than her in the head, I mean personally, and that was (1984 and 1988 Olympic gold medalist Greg) Louganis," said Ken Armstrong, Wilkinson's longtime diving coach.

This week's USA Diving Grand Prix at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex is just Wilkinson's third meet since having surgery on her right wrist in August. She didn't reach the finals in the 10-meter platform competition. Still, Armstrong considers her to be ahead of schedule for Beijing.

Overcoming injury is nothing new for Wilkinson. In 2000, she broke three bones in her foot six months before the Games and she couldn't dive until just before the U.S. Olympic Trials. However, she qualified through the pain, wearing a special shoe so she could climb the ladder.

Still, Armstrong thinks her gold-medal performance, the first one by an American woman since 1964, was overshadowed by the injury and courage angle. And after watching the Chinese raise the bar in the years following Sydney, he tried to use that as motivation for Wilkinson in 2004 in Athens, where she finished fifth.

"It's a different journey now and it will be a different special feeling," Wilkinson said. "It's not really trying to recreate that moment (2000) again. It's something different. But remembering how exciting Sydney was is definitely a good motivating factor going into Beijing."

Wilkinson finished fourth at the World Diving Championships in March. Her wrist was still healing, so she was pleased that she was in the hunt for a medal. Aside from the 10-meter platform, she has also been competing in the synchronized platform diving with fellow Texan Jessica Livingston.

During the opening ceremonies Thursday, the public-address announcer asked athletes who have won an Olympic medal to raise their hands. Wilkinson was the only one, which told her two things.

"That means I'm old," Wilkinson said. "But the nice thing is, no matter what else happens, nothing can take away what happened in Sydney. People are just starting to ask me more about the experience among the younger divers, which is exciting, because I feel like I have so much to share."