At the risk of rooting for a non-American at the Olympics.

Good luck to Matthew Mitcham, a member of the Australian Olympic swimming team. He's openly gay. If he wins a gold medal, he would be one of the very few openly gay or lesbian Olympic athletes. I read the cover story about Matthew Mitcham...he sounds like a great guy.

The emergence of more and more openly gay and lesbian athletes...at the Olympic level or otherwise... is something we can all celebrate, I think.

http://www.advocate.com/issue_story_ektid58427.asp

He sounds like a great guy.

Out, proud and ready to go for gold

May 24, 2008
Page 1 of 2 | Single page

MATTHEW MITCHAM is brave enough to dive from a 10-metre platform for Olympic gold and courageous enough to do what no Australian athlete has done.

When Mitcham balances on the Beijing diving tower this August, like all Australian Olympians, he will be hoping the ones he loves will be there to watch him.

The gold medal hopeful's journey has not been easy. Those close to him have seen Mitcham, 20, battle depression, retire in his teenage years after physical and emotional burn-out, then nine months later resume his sport and build himself into the champion he is today.

One person who has been by his side for the entire tumultuous journey is his partner, Lachlan.

Months out from the Games, Mitcham has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media for the first time, in an exclusive interview with the Herald. He has also applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program to have Lachlan near him in Beijing.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/beijing2008/out-proud-and-ready-to-go-for-gold/2008/05/23/1211183107597.html

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/05/23/matthewmitcham_narrowweb__300x450,0.jpg

:loveya:

:loveya:

<snip>
BEIJING -- Matthew Mitcham grabbed the moment and simply wouldn't let go Saturday night, to give Australia its first diving gold medal since 1924, preventing China from sweeping all eight Olympic diving gold medals.

The man who quit diving in 2006 and came back nine months later did it with an impeccably timed final dive in the 10-meter platform event, earning four perfect 10s. The dive, a back 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists and a 3.8 degree of difficulty, brought him 112.10 points, the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history, officials said. It was a stunning reversal. The packed house at the Water Cube, a largely Chinese crowd, had been enjoying a textbook performance from Zhou Luxin, who led going into the sixth and final round by more than 30 points. Here, looking at Zhou, was almost like appreciating a flawless ballet.

But he faltered on his last dive, blowing his entry, and the door cracked open, just barely, for Mitcham. Mitcham put his hands over his face and cried after his winning dive. Zhou, for his part, said he was nervous before his last dive.

"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."
<snip>
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olydiving24-2008aug24,0,3203179.story?track=rss

Congratulations to Matt! Woo-hoo! :-)

As he was running off, knowing how well he did... we both said "Aw, how cute..." and my partner said "He has to be gay...." and I say ... "oh wow, I bet that's the gay diver Terry mentioned in a thread in GLBT, let me go look."

:bounce:

His dive was PERFECT and beautiful! And what a great energy he had beaming through his smile. Go Matthew!! :party:

I just realized I have been watching the competition from earlier! Lucky me to catch it and think it's Live. The last dive was absolutely astounding.

WOW.

Here is a great interview he gave when he came out.

http://sxnews.e-p.net.au/feature/making-a-splash-3371-2.html