Olympic Diver Comes Out
Next month in Beijing, Australian Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham will go all-out for the gold. But he’s already taken a history-making step in coming out of the closet.
Mitcham holds the distinction of being the first Australian athlete to head to the games as an openly gay man, reported the Sidney Morning Herald in a May 24, 2008 article.
The Olympics, and the 20-year-old athlete’s public coming out, will be the culmination of years of training, punctuated by episodes of depression and a nine-month stretch during which Mitchell quit the sport.
But now Mitcham is back, in top form and ready to compete, and if he has his way, the athlete will, like heterosexual competitors, have his significant other, Lachlan, with him at the games.
The article quoted the young Aussie as saying, "We can’t afford for Lachlan to go at the moment."
Added Mitcham, "But [the] Johnson & Johnson [Athlete Family Support Program] offer[s] grants to go to Beijing and I’ve nominated Lachlan as the support person I want to go."
If Mitcham’s performance at a competition in Ft. Lauderdale last May is any indication, the Australian could have a good chance of bringing him the gold.
In that match, Mitcham outscored everybody else in his event--including two Chinese athletes against whom he is expected to compete in the Summer Olympics. And he did it despite trying weather in an outdoor venue.
Said Mitcham of that overcast day, "When I was whizzing around, the sky [was] the same color as the water."
Admitted Mitcham, "I was freaking out. It was the first time I had dived outside since I left the sport."
The article cited Mitcham’s temporary retirement from the sport, which saw him quit for the better part of a year. It was a step back that helped him jump forward, and a time of rest that proved rejuvenating.
"It was a break for me to explore myself and get familiar with who I really was and to be happy with who I really was," reckoned the athlete.
"Just being a happier person really radiates into other areas of your life."
When the time came to get back into the game, Mitcham eased himself into the demands of training and competition by doing something a little different: earning some cash by diving for an audience at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney in 2007.
"At the same time I was applying for the [New South Wales] Institute of Sport to try and get into the diving squad," the article quoted Mitcham as saying.
"It was a good warm-up. I was doing similar dives and getting my head around all of the movements again."
Added the athlete, "It was a pretty smooth lead into intense training again."
Mitcham evinced no regret for any of the ups and downs he’s been through; if anything, his attitude suggested just the opposite.
"The more you have experienced, the more you have to draw off."
Continued Mitcham, "I look at the last 20 years as a long, winding path of lessons and some hardship."
Added the athlete, "I hope the rest of my life isn’t straight because that could be boring."
