| Matthew Mitcham is our golden boy! |
 Diver Matthew Mitcham has won gold in Beijing.
Mitcham is the first openly gay Australian to compete in the Olympic Games. Last night Mitcham performed a stunning fightback in the 10m platform to win the gold medal in an incredible upset that prevented a Chinese clean sweep of the Olympic diving events.
The 20-year-old Sydney-based Queenslander scored a perfect 10 in his second and an amazing 10-point final dive to steal victory from China's Zhou Luxin. "I was crying thinking I had silver and to get gold, I was a blubbering mess."
Mitcham overcame a 32.50 point deficit on his final dive to win with 537.95 points from Zhou 533.15 and Russian 2007 world champion Gleb Galperin (525.8). Fellow Australian Mathew Helm finished sixth with a score of 467.70. Earlier this year a casual remark about his partner during an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald led to a flurry of international publicity. “It’s not really a big deal,” he told SX at the time. “It’s not like I’m a different person. It’s not like I was straight before.” He said he would be happy if young gay men looked to him as a role model. “There’s not really much choice. If someone looks up to you, then you’re a role model. And I’m happy with that. I just hope I do a good job – I’m not perfect!” Read that SX interview with Matthew Mitcham CLICK HERE
After taking a break from training in 2006, Mitcham stunned the world by taking first place in the 10m platform FINA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in May this year.
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written by raymond85 , August 27, 2008 Pete ... yes, Matthew is not the first openly-gay athlete to compete in the Olympic games, but he is the first openly-gay Australian, as the article rightly says. report abuse
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written by Pete Dillon , August 25, 2008 Hmmm We need to be careful with accuracy. Matt is not the first openly gay athlete to compete at a games. He may indeed be the one most hyped and public. Now that I have had my beef, as a former diver and a parochial Australian, I think what Matt has achieved is sensational. No doubt he will be the latest gay poster boy. Lets just not ruin him and start with the tall poppy stuff too soon. He deserves the accolades for sure, he deserves the praise that will come his way. But I, like him, hope he is known as our first male diving gold medallist in 84 yearsd, rather than the gay diver. Goodness knows there have been many of those before and I am sure there will be many to come. Sincerest congratulations to him, as he deserves all the good things that come his way. report abuse
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written by Bob90i , August 24, 2008 Yay! well done matt report abuse
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written by LD , August 24, 2008 What does “a perfect bod†have to do with Matthew Mitcham’s amazing achievement? We all like a good perve, sure. I’m sure you mean well with praise for his good looks, but I worry sometimes that we trivialise the merits of others and buy into stereotypes of ourselves with superfluous comments like this. Mitcham himself said not long after his win that he hoped he would no longer be regarded as the gay diver, but the GOOD diver! Let’s be mindful not to get too caught up in tokenism. Having said that – congratulations Matt! An enthralling and well deserved win! report abuse
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written by KEN WILDY & TAMMY TANOTO , August 24, 2008 What a great Aussie guy and like us, proud to be gay, open and rejoice what we have 'in the land down under'! We jumped with joy watching your last dive and your win! And yes as gays we cried tears of utter joy. Congrats t u Matt,,,see u at Mardissss Grassss..Sydney is yours and we love you man... just stunning to watch and a great return with a perfect bod !! X X X report abuse
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