Matthew Mitcham Back In The Flesh

We just can't get enough of Mitcham. He is truly a hero in the eyes of many, gay and stright. Never have I seen a better form. The Advocate has a great articale with even better pics(grrrrr!). I can not believe he does not have a sponsor yet. What the hell is wrong with the world? Not only is he gorgeous but he has accomplished what no other human has done. Just in case you can't remember. He received the highest olympic diving score in history....thats right in history. maybe he needs to smoke on a bong for people to notice him.

Here is just a clip from the articale:

“I don’t want to be just a one-minute wonder,” he says. “I do want to continue being the best, so that when [people] think back, there will be no doubt in their minds that Matthew Mitcham was the best diver of his time. I don’t want people to think that winning the gold medal in Beijing was just me being lucky, you know?”

Matthew we know and we love you. Keep the gold alive.

Matthew Mitcham Wins 2008 Sports Performer Of The Year

Beijing Olympics diving gold medallist Matthew Mitcham has upstaged a star-studded field to win the 2008 Sports Performer of the Year award in Melbourne tonight.

Mitcham's heroics in scoring a record-breaking result on his final dive to claim individual gold in the men's 10m platform event was enough to win the award, organised by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and announced at a gala function at Crown Casino.

Mitcham scored an incredible four perfect 10s, to steal the gold from favoured Chinese diver Luxin Zhou. It was a massive upset, snatching gold in front of a fiercely patriotic Chinese home crowd.

The young diver will snare $50,000 from the awards' sponsor, Colonial First State.

His story is a remarkable tale of overcoming difficulties. Matthew battled depression and retired in his teenage years after physical and emotional burn-out. But just nine months after resuming training he achieved the ultimate in his chosen sport.

He is also believed to be the first Australian to openly declare his homosexuality before competing at an Olympic Games.

Via theage

Openly Gay Olympic Diver, Matthew Mitcham, Gets Postage Stamp!

Australia's, Gold Medal Winner, Matthew Mitcham is now on a postage stamp! This is a new dawn for the gay community. Thank you Matthew for standing up for yourself and for us all.

We Just Can't Get Enough Of Matthew Mitcham

Sorry, I know that you have to be tried of hearing me talk about Matthew Mitcham, but the boy is an icon and a hero for many gays. I am proud to have him on our side. Rats off to ya Matthew!


HE KISSED him briefly in the stands and gave him his Olympic bouquet. Later, outside the glowing blue Water Cube, Matthew Mitcham and his partner, Lachlan Fletcher, firmly embraced, both shedding tears. Next it was his mother Vivien's turn to hold her golden boy, and more tears fell.

"Coming out publicly, that was a first," said Vivien. "The highest score awarded to an Olympic dive ever, another first. How many more firsts can this child get? Can you find something else to be first in? He's just done so well. He deserves it."

Just as he has shown flipping around at 10 metres high, Mitcham has shown no fear about disclosing his sexuality. He was the first Australian athlete to go to an Olympics openly gay.

Carefully nursing Mitcham's Olympic bouquet, Fletcher spoke of the incredible journey that

the diver had taken to the top. Fletcher has been the one constant over the past two years.

He was his rock when Mitcham retired in his late teenage years suffering anxiety and depression. He watched him become a stunt diver at the Sydney Royal Easter show, supported his fight back into the sport and now to win Olympic gold.

"It's been so up and down," Fletcher said. "When I first met him, he was pretty unhappy, he wasn't liking the diving in Brisbane at all, he didn't want to do it, wasn't happy being there.

"It took a lot for him to retire and stop doing it because it had been his life for so long. He wanted to try and be happy again. He took time to do normal things that people do.

"Then after five or six months he started to really miss it again and he had the opportunity to dive with Chava [Sobrino, his coach]. He started that and loved it ever since, every second of it, which is great to see him happy all the time."

"The biggest thing he was worried about was people paying more attention to that than his actually diving," Fletcher said. "And I suppose that kind of did happen a little bit. Hopefully, now it won't be so much of an issue any more."

Mitcham was 30 points behind top Chinese favourite Zhou Luxin before the last attempt. Fletcher said he felt "stupidly nervous" as Mitcham went for his final dive.

Sobrino, who was instrumental in reviving Mitcham's career, was gobsmacked by the final dive. "It was his best dive and that's why we put it at the end," Sobrino said.

"The expectancy of that dive was around 106 to 108 points. But not 112, never. He did it at the right time, at the right moment, in the right pool with the right crowd, so I'm pretty happy and we got the right medal."

It was the eighth and last medal in a sport that China dominates and was expected

to sweep. Mitcham cried and bounced around the pool deck before climbing up to the stands to embrace Fletcher.

"It's going to take a while to sink in," Mitcham said. "My cheeks hurt from smiling. My face hurts from the chlorine. My legs are sore from jumping up and down. I'm in pain and I'm tired. But I'm so happy."

Via The Age

NBC Apologises For Coverage Of Gay Olympic Hero

The head of Olympics at American television network NBC has apologised for the way in which they reported the story of Matthew Mitcham.

The 20-year-old Australian diver won gold at the Beijing Games last week.

However, NBC caused outrage by appearing to censor pictures of the athlete celebrating his win with his boyfriend Lachlan.

After the Australian national anthem was played Matthew went into the stands to embrace his mother and kiss Lachlan, an event missed out of the NBC coverage broadcast across the US.

After protests led by gay entertainment blog AfterElton.com, the network initially claimed they were unaware that there was an issue over their coverage.

"Anyone watching NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics is aware how much time the network devoted to many athlete’s personal stories," said AfterElton.com.

"Michael Phelp’s record setting eight Olympic gold medals and his relationship with his mother, Usain Bolt’s gold medals and world records, and even Sanya Richard’s relationship with her fiancée who plays for the New York Giants.

"Was Mitcham's win simply not that noteworthy? Given that he single-handedly kept the Chinese from winning every men’s diving gold medal, that explanation is highly unlikely."

NBC responded: "It's not possible to cover the entire personal story of every athlete regarding their performance. It’s just not possible to single out coverage."

However, yesterday the network's head of Olympics conceded that NBC had been at fault.

"We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story," Gary Zenkel told AfterElton.com

"We apologise for this unintentional omission."

Via PinkNews

Openly Gay Olympic Diver Wins Gold

From gay icon, to Olympic champion, Australian, Matthew Mitcham has won his first gold medal. He is the only openly gay male athlete competing in Beijing. There are 9 lesbians and one bisexual woman competing alongside him.

In the last moment he snatched the gold from China's Zhou Luxin, achieving earning four perfect 10s on his last dive, a back two-and-a-half somersault with two-and-a-half twist and a difficulty of 3.8 earning him four perfect tens and a total of 112 from that dive alone. He finished with 537.95 points

British Prime minister, Gordon Brown was among the spectators, primarily to watch 14-year-old Tom Daley who came in seventh place.

Mr Daley said: "It was an unbelievable finish from Mitcham. To get all those 10s, that is probably the highest score I have ever seen in one dive."

The final scores were:-
1. Matthew Mitcham (Australia) 537.95 points
2. Zhou Luxin (China) 533.15
3. Gleb Galperin (Russia) 525.80
4. Huo Liang (China) 508.40
5. Jose Antonio Guerra Oliva (Cuba) 507.15
6. Mathew Helm (Australia) 467.70
7. Thomas Daley (Britain) 463.55
8. Rommel Pacheco (Mexico) 460.20
9. Patrick Hausding (Germany) 448.30
10. David Boudia (U.S.) 441.45
11. Juan Guillermo Uran (Colombia) 414.80
12. Thomas Finchum (U.S.) 412.65

Via pinknews