Matthew Mitcham became the first Aussie man since 1924 to win a diving gold and just the third Aussie ever.
Matthew Mitcham earned 112.10 points including four perfect 10s on his last dive - the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history.
After the medal ceremony, Mitcham jumped through the barricades to kiss his mother, Vivien, and partner, Lachlan Fletcher, in the stands.
Mitcham's gold medal propelled him ahead of the Chinese favourite Zhou Luxin by 4.80 points with a total of 537.95 and prevented China from getting a clean sweep of eight Olympic diving gold medals.
Over at the women's camp, openly gay captain Gro Hammerseng led Norway's handball team including openly gay left back Katja Nyberg to a 34-27 victory against Russia, securing the team's first Olympic gold medal. The US Women's Football (soccer) team (lesbian forward Natasha Kai) beat Brazil to win gold. The US Softball team with (openly lesbian catcher and infielder Lauren Lappin and bisexual infielder Vicky Galindo, both of whom came out in an interview with The Advocate) was defeated by Japan 3-1 to win silver.
Mitcham's win has re-ignited the debate about the relevance or newsworthiness of an athlete's sexual orientation.
Former US Judo star Lauren Meece wrote in a column in a gay newspaper: "How very selfish, they say, of those same athletes to work their entire lives sacrificing blood, sweat, and tears to get to these very moments and then fail to mention their homosexuality!" She wrote of the gay community for being "very critical regarding the numbers of athletes closeting themselves at the Olympics."
"In the name of the Olympic spirit and humanity shut up and let gay athletes focus on the endeavors that they have worked so hard to reach." She wrote her column "No rainbow flags at Beijing Games: Olympics are not the place for gay politics."
Writer and Gay Games medallist in swimming Ryan Heath rebutted her directly in an Australian newspaper saying: "Shutting up is part of the problem. The reason we can't name many gay sports stars isn't because the media are bored with them It's because there are hardly any coming out stories to report."
"Mitcham's sexuality is news so long as he remains the only openly gay man on the Australian team, and quite possibly, the only one among the nearly 7000 men competing in Beijing." Heath, who trained as a competitive swimmer in his teens, further cited homophobia in sports arenas and sponsorship issues openly gay athletes may face in an opinion piece titled "A win for Australia - and for gay athletes everywhere."
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http://www.stamps.com.au/olympics/instant-stamps/sku/1584414
The winner's interview with his mom and his male partner on his sides .. they look the happiest family with pride and love.
I deeply thank Matthew being so brave as himself when the world-wide Olympic viewers ( majority = non-gay ) watch him.
The team mates & friends who hugged him after his dives did not show any anti-gay attitude which also pleased me a lot.
I wish this "golden " news encourage LGBTs all over the world and push LGBTcommunities to higher steps.
proud of you.
Like Ellen, another supreme icon for the GLBT community worldwide.
Congrats and God Bless, Mitcham.
cheers
Gavin
Tweed
Australia
It seems like you are the first and only person to bring this up.
Making a splash
Source: SX News
In fact, Mitcham doesn't even agree that he 'came out' last month.
"I came out years ago. All that happened recently was that I was doing an interview with the Herald and there was a pretty innocuous question, 'Who do I live with?' and I just said 'my partner Lachlan'. And the journalist was really excited - she thought it was absolutely wonderful!"
While Mitcham, who came out to friends and family at age fourteen (Mum's reaction: "Well, duh!"), doesn't see his sexuality a big deal, he's not nave about his position as Australia's highest-profile out gay sportsman. He's aware that other people do see it as "a big deal" and he's happy to wear the mantle of 'role model' for young gay guys.
"Being in my position, it's inevitable," he concedes. "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!"
He certainly bears the markings of a good gay role model: he's successful, attractive and he's not shy about speaking up on queer issues. When asked for his view on same-sex marriage, for instance, he has no compunction slamming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
"I'm not happy with Kevin Rudd," he says, bluntly. "Kevin Rudd's opinion of marriage as something that's only between a man and a woman is quite narrow-minded. During the election campaign he was all about appearing young and cool, but his views on gay marriage make him look quite old-fashioned."
Similarly, Mitcham doesn't hold back when quizzed about criticism of his 'coming out'. When the Herald story was initially published, this journalist overheard two women on a train explaining to each other's satisfaction why it was 'ridiculous'. "Why don't heterosexuals come out as straight?" harrumphed one. "They're just obsessed with their sexuality," sneered the other. I ask Mitcham for his response to this line of thinking.
"That's a really uneducated, unworldly view," he replies. "And you know what? Straight people talk about their sexuality all the time. They talk about the opposite sex, they talk about their wives, their husbands, their marriage. Those are all heterosexual discourses, and they do talk about them all the time. So those ladies didn't think their comments through very well."
http://sxnews.e-p.net.au/feature/making-a-splash-3371-2.html
If Mitcham makes it known that he's gay in such an unsupportive context, then it also means that he WANTS it to be an issue, doesn't it ? Obviously it would have been a lot easier for him to keep closeted like so many of his fellow athletes, so don't deprive him of what may be, in the long run, the most important of his TWO victories.
Every gay man who watched him win this gold medal is happy today, because we NEED this kind of positive event to happen. So... thumbs up Matt and thank you SO MUCH !!!
But still...he was the most solid diver when he competed!
you have made us in the LGBT community so proud of you. you have shown to the world that being gay doesnt mean that we are less manly then the others. you are truly my gay icon in the diving event just like greg louganis. lets hope that more atheletes like you would be coming out in the next Olympic game in London 2012.
As an athelete, I think you would want people to recognise you for your abilities. For example: David Beckham - he's an excellent soccer player in his own right, but people seem to be more interested in what's he's wearing or sleeping with rather than his performance on the field (NOT IN BED).
Same for an athlete, a lawyer, a doctor or anyone for that matter. I'm sure they will appreciate it more if they gain recognition through their craft, more so than if people only know them because of their sexuality. For Matthew, being gay is only incidental to him being a diving champ. He won one gold medal, and you guys are inspired just because he happens to be gay. What about Phelps? He won eight medals and trained so hard for it. Well deserved I say - now that is way more inspiring.
And half of you here (come on be honest!) wouldn't care less about this event, or even know who Matthew is if it wasn't all over so many front page news that he was gay.
He deserves the accolades and praise that being heaped upon him as a GAY athlete. It doesn't make him a better athlete - he's already won gold at the Olympics, but it certainly sets him apart from everyone else, for his integrity, honesty, and, yes, bravery.
So IMHO yes, "gay" has everything to do with what puts Matthew Mitcham a few leagues above everyone else. The homophobia and discrimination he battles comes not only from within the sporting fraternity, but based on some of the comments here, also the internalised homophobia of the gay community.
While I agree with you that many people would not wish to be solely recognized, identified or labeled because of their sexual orientation and would prefer acknowledgment of their gifts, talents and professional abilities. The harsh reality is that in pro sports because there are few openly queer athletes it WILL be a big thing when someone comes out.
Mitchams' gold makes gay people feel proud because he is talented and because he is brave in the face of institutional, team, peer and societal pressures. His visibility is important in advancing institutional change for GLBT people, just as anyone who 'outs' themselves affects the people, the organizations and the discourses around him or her. A single drop of water diving earthward creates plenty of ripples indeed...
i also like chen yi bing =P
Then Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics concerning his network's coverage of Matthew Mitcham's gold medal upset during the diving competition at the Beijing Olympics saidl: "We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story. We apologize for this unintentional omission."
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/michaeljensen/NBC-olympic-president-gary-zenkel-matthew-mitcham
One of the issues of being gay is that because most societies term being gay as abnormal, often young maturing persons think that being gay is detrimental to their becoming who they want to be in life and they will not succeed just because they are gay.
Illustrating such stories as these reinforces that one can attain their hopes, desires, and dreams, and being gay is not a handicap.
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