Loudy Wiggins ( née Tourky) (born 7 July 1979) is an Australian former diver. She was born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

to Palestinian Christian parents and moved to Australia when she was 3 years old. Wiggins was a gymnast at the Australian Institute of Sport, then began diving when she was 12 on suggestion from her physiotherapist. Wiggins competed at her first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

for Diving when she was 17 years old at the 1996 Summer Olympics in

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. She won bronze in the 10m synchronised platform event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, becoming the first Australian to win an Olympic medal in diving since Dick Eve in 1924 (with Rebecca Gilmore). She and Rebecca Gilmore were also the first Australian female Olympic diving medallists. She won bronze at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka after a successful year on the Diving Grand Prix circuit and was named Female Australian Diver of the Year. Loudy was known as being a powerful platform diver. After winning numerous National championships in both springboard and platform as well as many international medals, in 2002 she won gold in the 10m platform event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and backed this up in 2003 by winning first place at an unprecedented three successive CAN-AM-MEX FINA Diving Grand Prix competitions coming home with 6 gold medals. She finished 2003 with a silver medal at the FINA Aquatic World Championships in the 10m synchronised diving event in Barcelona. In 2004, after finishing second in the 10m platform event at the Diving World Cup in Athens, Wiggins won bronze in the 10m event at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

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. She also won 2 silver medals the following year at the 2005 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Montreal in the 10m and 10m Synchro events and 2 gold medals at the same events at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. Wiggins trained for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

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, but a calf injury suffered during the Olympic selection trials on 13 April 2008 prevented her from competing in the Games. After getting married and having her first child, Wiggins began a comeback, placing 14th at the Olympic Test Event in London. Returning to Australia, she partnered with Rachel Bugg and, after very limited preparation, defeated Melissa Wu and Alexandra Croak at the Australian Nomination Trials. and competed at her fourth Olympic Games at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where, at 33, she was the oldest diver in the field. Wiggins has a degree in media and communications, from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, was on the Australian Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission and the Board of Directors of Diving Victoria from 2012 - 2016.

Personal life

Wiggins is married to former Carlton Australian rules football player Simon Wiggins. They have a daughter born in 2010 and a son born in 2013.

References

External links

Athlete Interview: Diver Loudy Tourky (Video)Australian Olympic Team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggins, Loudy 1979 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport divers Australian people of Palestinian descent Australian female divers Sportspeople from Haifa Divers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Divers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Israeli emigrants to Australia Olympic divers for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Olympic medalists in diving Divers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in diving Commonwealth Games gold medallists in diving University of Sydney alumni Australian diving coaches Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games People from Melton, Victoria Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportswomen