Site Administrator Graeme Posted August 23, 2008 Site Administrator Posted August 23, 2008 From the Sydney Morning Herald. I saw the first dive, which, as was mention in the article, wasn't one of Matt's best, and I couldn't stay up to watch the rest of the final. I woke up this morning to some good news A perfect 10 From teenage retirement to Royal Easter Show high-diver to gay icon to gold Olympic medallist; Matthew Mitcham's journey to success has been an amazing roller-coaster. Mitcham's pulled off a stunning final dive in the 10 metre platform, scoring an incredible four perfect 10s, to steal the gold off favourite Chinese diver Luxin Zhou. Mitcham finished with 537.95 points. ... One person who has been by his side for the entire tumultuous and now brilliant journey is his partner, Lachlan, he was in the crowd last night courtesy of a Johnson & Johnson Olympic sponsorship. Mitcham is one of only a few "out" gay athletes in Beijing and the first Australian to openly declare his homosexuality going into an Olympics. He's been a cover-boy for gay magazines and featured on the cult gossip website Perezhilton.com accompanied by the tagline: "Yum. Yum. Yum! Can we have a piece of that????". ... Don't forget to check out the photos from the diving!
Jay Posted August 23, 2008 Posted August 23, 2008 Here is a link with more picures of Matt. A very happy young man.
Dalmatia Posted August 23, 2008 Posted August 23, 2008 I saw the dive and it was amazing, defiantly deserved what it got But I didn
Tiger Posted August 23, 2008 Posted August 23, 2008 It's about time someone beat the Chinese in diving.
PlugInMatty Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 one of my friends had the pleasure of sitting with Matt's boyfriend at the recent Olympic trials, actually. she wanted me to go along with her on the day (I believe the sales pitch was "they're all gay!"), but I ended up piking on her. I swear I'm my own worst enemy at times haha on a side note, our host broadcaster in Australia has made zero reference to Matt's sexuality during their coverage of the Olympics. while I'm somewhat appreciative they haven't let Matthew's sexuality overshadow his incredible results in the pool, Channel Seven should be acknowledging the love and support of Matt's boyfriend the same way they acknowledge the partners of our other successful Olympians. I guess it's a bit of a catch-22, isn't it? if they talk about his sexuality too much, they risk overshadowing Matt's incredible achievements and leave themselves open to accusations of 'discrimination' from sections of the gay community (you know who you are). but on the other hand, Matt has the potential to be a culturally-significant member of our Olympic team - if he so wishes. the topic of gays in sport has received a lot of coverage in Australia over the past couple of weeks (particularly gays in football), so it's definitely an issue of cultural significance in Australia at the moment. if only one athlete came out of the closet, the media believes it would be a significant step forward for the gay community and the sporting community at large. that said, nobody actually believes a footballer is going to come out of the closet any time soon. as a result, every inch of column space has been dealing in hypotheticals... until now. now, we have an openly homosexual athlete who has reached the pinnacle of his chosen field. he's young, attractive, bright, friendly, has a million-dollar smile and a gold medal hanging around his neck. if he was straight, he'd be a marketer's dream. alas, he's not. so what are we going to do about it?
Site Administrator Graeme Posted August 24, 2008 Author Site Administrator Posted August 24, 2008 on a side note, our host broadcaster in Australia has made zero reference to Matt's sexuality during their coverage of the Olympics. while I'm somewhat appreciative they haven't let Matthew's sexuality overshadow his incredible results in the pool, Channel Seven should be acknowledging the love and support of Matt's boyfriend the same way they acknowledge the partners of our other successful Olympians. You'll notice that the Sydney Morning Herald article mentions Matt's sexuality and his boyfriend (as an aside, the Sydney Morning Herald had the exclusive when Matt came out publicly as gay, around a year ago). I'm a firm believer in that a persons sexuality shouldn't be newsworthy unless it's relevant. While Channel Seven may be overly sensitive on the subject, it's better in this case to be a little cautious. I suspect they'll mention it at some point, but probably in one of their current affairs/informal chat sessions. NOT in the celebration of the victory. now, we have an openly homosexual athlete who has reached the pinnacle of his chosen field. he's young, attractive, bright, friendly, has a million-dollar smile and a gold medal hanging around his neck. if he was straight, he'd be a marketer's dream. alas, he's not. so what are we going to do about it? I have to disagree with you here. Diving is not a major sport in Australia, and while he'll probably get some product endorsement offers, I don't think there'll be many, regardless of his sexuality. Consider the marketing that Australia's gold medal archers, shooters, cyclists and equestrian riders have had over the years? Essentially none. The only exception I can think to this rule is the Oarsome Foursome (quad rowers) and, to be honest, I cringed when I saw the ads they were in. The money may have been good, but I think it would have been better if they never did those ads. I wish him all the best, but I don't expect him to get much in the way of marketing offers -- and that's got nothing to do with his sexuality. Let's face, Australian's love sporting heroes and his sexuality isn't going to offend enough people to make a big difference. I would be more concerned that marketers tried to exploit his sexuality, which could have a negative impact, not a positive one.
Krista Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 That's a nice story of a really great looking guy... shew.. I do like divers a lot... (since the swimmers went all boring with their uniforms especially)
Site Administrator Graeme Posted August 24, 2008 Author Site Administrator Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) Yummie He's also taken I've just been reading the article in Melbourne's Herald Sun (one of the two major mainstream newspaper's here in Melbourne. The other, The Age, is owned by the same group as The Sydney Morning Herald and has the exact same article as posted above). There is a section for reader comments, and they reflect the views of PluginMatty above -- they are generally derisive of the TV coverage, and split about whether Matt's sexuality is relevant. Yes, he's an inspiration, but what has his sexuality got to do with winning the gold medal? Regardless, it was a spectacular last dive Edited August 24, 2008 by Graeme
jovian_w2002 Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 Woooooo-hooooooooooo!!!! YEAH! Go team Aussieeeeeeee!!!!!!!
Mikie Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 It's about time someone stopped the Chinese diving sweep, and what a great way to do it!
Drewbie Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) I agree with matt on a level, Example with Olympica's bf can just mention his boyfriends proud etc. Also nice to know someone beat Chinia's winning streak with diving Edited August 24, 2008 by Drewbie
acassimaty Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 (edited) I was so happy hearing this this morning as I've followed Matthew's story since first hearing about it earlier this year. Wish I stayed up last night to watch it happen. I was quite interested in Channel 7's (the host broadcaster) and their rival Channel 9's nightly news service when reporting Matthews's triumph. I wasn't expecting much in the way of mentioning sexuality and I guess Channel 7 met expectations by showing Matthew and his partner, Lachlan, embracing outside the cube, as well as airing a grab from Lachlan - without categorically stating Matt's sexuality. Channel 9 on the other hand had a little more backstory in explaining his history and his decision to come out as gay before going to the games. Though I was quite puzzled by the pointed use of referring to Lachlan as a "friend". I guess there isn't much to complain about, the point is still getting across. Congrats Matt! Edited August 24, 2008 by acassimaty
Zapp Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 Still can't get over it, was a ridiculous dive, just incredible. Didn't even know he was gay until the day after, thought he was just effeminate, but it capped off a great few days for Australia, winning some unexpected events. Stopped the Chinese from a perfect 8/8 in the Diving also.
MikeL Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 I was so happy hearing this this morning as I've followed Matthew's story since first hearing about it earlier this year. Wish I stayed up last night to watch it happen. I was quite interested in Channel 7's (the host broadcaster) and their rival Channel 9's nightly news service when reporting Matthews's triumph. I wasn't expecting much in the way of mentioning sexuality and I guess Channel 7 met expectations by showing Matthew and his partner, Lachlan, embracing outside the cube, as well as airing a grab from Lachlan - without categorically stating Matt's sexuality. Channel 9 on the other hand had a little more backstory in explaining his history and his decision to come out as gay before going to the games. Though I was quite puzzled by the pointed use of referring to Lachlan as a "friend". I guess there isn't much to complain about, the point is still getting across. Congrats Matt! A grab? Is this what I think or is there some Australian slang I'm not familiar with?
Emulated Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 A truly phenomenal dive, he deserved nothing less! A grab? Is this what I think or is there some Australian slang I'm not familiar with? Yeah, I second that... EmulatedLove
Site Administrator Graeme Posted August 24, 2008 Author Site Administrator Posted August 24, 2008 A grab? Is this what I think or is there some Australian slang I'm not familiar with? Make that "some teenage Australian slang" because I'm not familiar with it, either, though it'll probably be obvious if I had seen the footage
twolf Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 CONGRATS MATT! for one of the greatest feats in your life that will be remembered for years to come, which is getting A PERFECT 10!
jfalkon Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 I saw him dive with out knowing anything about his personal life. All the divers were amazing but Matt did stand out. As the station went to a comercial break my mind drifted and I began to rank the divers by looks. As if that was not bad enough I then began to think of who would make a nice couple. I never thought to look at who they were filming in the stands. I'm sure they showed the proud boyfriend and I missed it!
acassimaty Posted August 24, 2008 Posted August 24, 2008 Make that "some teenage Australian slang" because I'm not familiar with it, either, though it'll probably be obvious if I had seen the footage Lol. Sorry guys. Make that "TV industry slang". After we saw them embracing outside the cube, they had a quick interview with Lachlan, saying how happy he was.
sparrow Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 After we saw them embracing outside the cube, they had a quick interview with Lachlan, saying how happy he was. NBC here in the US didn't show any of that unfortunately, although if you watch the video of the medal ceremony online they do show him kissing his mom and boyfriend in the stands right after. Also there's this cute interview of him with his mom and boyfriend standing next to him that's up on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2PWW8uBhik
Tiger Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 I think it's awful that NBC wouldn't cover something like that. The Chinese were thought to be unbeatable in diving, so someone actually proving otherwise should be noteworthy enough.
Pai-kun Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 What a hottie! And good for him on the gold! Btw, just gotta say; Perez is the tackiest person ever.
MikeL Posted August 25, 2008 Posted August 25, 2008 Lol. Sorry guys. Make that "TV industry slang". After we saw them embracing outside the cube, they had a quick interview with Lachlan, saying how happy he was. So, Australian TV calls a quick interview a "grab". Right? What, pray tell, do they call an in-depth interview?
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