Of the approximately 6,000 men who have competed in the Olympics over the last two weeks, only one of them has been publicly identified as openly gay. That one, Matthew Mitcham, won the gold medal in the men's 10-meter platform.
According to Outsports.com, NBC never mentioned that he's gay on its television broadcast. That's a surprise; NBC is constantly looking for unique qualities of athletes for its human interest profiles. His sexual orientation is noted on his NBCOlympics.com profile.
Mitcham pulled off a huge upset after trailing China's Zhou Luxin by more than 30 points leading into the final round. His score of 112.10 on his last dive bumped him slightly ahead of Zhou and into first place. It was the only diving event in which China didn't win the gold medal.
"It's absolutely surreal. I never thought that this would be possible,'' Mitcham said. "I wasn't even sure of my medal chances at all. After I did my last dive and I saw I was in first, I thought, "That's it, it's a silver medal, I am so happy with this' and then I won. I can't believe it, I'm so happy."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-24-2008 @ 8:41AM
Debbie Swearingen said...
It was an awesome night just watching Mitcham dive.I knew early on he was gone to medal he was just in the zone last night, Great job!!
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8-24-2008 @ 5:52PM
Eduardo said...
Good going Matthew! You didn't just win the gold medal away from those Chinese but were proud enough to admit to the world that you're openly gay. Very brave! I am sure Matthew wasn't the only one in these games, he couldn't have been! Anyways, Congratulations!
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8-24-2008 @ 4:08PM
George Duggan, Knoxville, TN. said...
Congratulations, Matthew! You were excellent.
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8-26-2008 @ 9:20PM
patricia reed said...
congradulations young man. You did more than win the gold you showes the world to not sterotype people.
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8-25-2008 @ 11:47AM
Franklin said...
Gay or straight, doesn't matter to me. I was watching the diving, and this guy stepped up and completely nailed his last dive to defeat the heavy Chinese favorite. It was one of the most impressive individual feats I saw in the Olympics.
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8-25-2008 @ 12:24PM
rwb2ct said...
NBC didn't need to say a word, all they did was show you he had a tramp stamp and it spoke for itslef.
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8-25-2008 @ 5:18PM
Kelly Stevens said...
He will be remembered for being the highest scoring diver ever. He will be a role model for young men all over the world in diving and in sports. Some of them will be gay, most will be hetrosexual. He is proof that you can train, and win with love and support. Great upset. Great diving! Go AUSSIE!
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8-26-2008 @ 3:25AM
Paul said...
I'm sick of all the gay people. It's not natural and I believe a lifestyle choice of some. What ever happened to the real men of the world?
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8-26-2008 @ 4:07AM
Cray said...
Real men don't waste their time hating gay people.
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8-26-2008 @ 9:43AM
Jennifer said...
Cray - best reply anyone could have made :) I'm Canadian, so I've never heard of Matthew before these Olympics, but I am so proud of him. I was watching that competition and my heart was in my throat. SO proud! Good job!
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8-26-2008 @ 10:28AM
DJ said...
As an aussie, I found it interesting reading about the whole Phelps/Rice action, now I find it interesting reading about the fact Matthew is gay and NBC neglected to mention it..
At the end of the day the whole of Australia is very proud of his achievement and the gold medal and couldn't give two hoots about his sexuality!!
As for NBC, do they comment on every athlete's sexuality? I'd guess not, so what's the big deal if a gay man wins gold?? (I'm a hetrosexual man BTW!)
I'm sure there were many other gay men and women competing in China and some may also have won a medal of some kind....
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