HOUSTON -- An Olympics diving star and her teammate filed a lawsuit against USA Diving, disputing their omission as a synchronized Olympic diving team, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.

Laura Wilkinson, a 2000 Olympic gold medalist, already clinched an automatic berth to Beijing by winning the 10-meter platform at the Olympic trials.

Shortly afterward, Wilkinson went to a selection camp in Knoxville, where she competed with teammate Jessica Livingston for a berth in synchronized diving.

Wilkinson and Livingston split the four events against their competitors, and had a higher average score. But, they were still passed over.

So, they asked an arbitrator to intervene and put them on the team.

"We just really felt like it was an unfair decision -- that not everything was looked at, and that some of the procedures weren't met," Wilkinson said.

"They've proven themselves internationally against those girls at grand prix events and they come out on top every single time," Olympic coach Kenny Armstrong said.

A hearing will be held on Friday in Los Angeles.

The team selected to go to Beijing lives and trains in Indianapolis, the headquarters of USA Diving. Armstrong said the oversight is not an isolated incident.

"It's happened the last three times in major events. It's very well publicized -- the metrics that they use," he said.

The best-case scenario would be that an arbitrator steps in and overrules the decision, allowing Wilkinson and Livingston to compete as a synchronized team.

If that does not happen, they said they already feel like winners because they had their voices heard.

"To make sure that we're held accountable -- to make sure that things that are going wrong, they fix so that the future is not sacrificed," Wilkinson said.

Before she goes for gold in Beijing, Wilkinson leaves this weekend to compete in the nationals. She is looking to win her 20th U.S. title.