Sunday, August 24, 2008

Golden Boy

Matthew Mitcham! Our first gold medal men's diving champ since 1924!



Much has been made of the fact that 20 year old Mitcham is one of the few openly gay athletes at the Olympics. It would be so easy for him to have been tagged as that only, but now that his skill and grace have done the talking he's got a new label, Gold Medallist. I read that he was trying to use the family assistance program to get his boyfriend to the games with him, I hope they achieved that because what an amazing finish it was! It would have been incredible for him to have his partner there to see it and share it.



As we say in this country, GO YOU GOOD THING!

[Updated: I hadn't realised that Mitcham won with the highest score for a single dive in Olymic history. A score that included 4 perfect 10s. That's awesome! And yes his partner Lachlan was there. I must say I have been comparitively impressed with the coverage of Mitcham by Channel 7. So far I haven't I seen them play the 'Gay Olympian' card, and most interviews and discussions have mentioned, or included, his partner Lachlan along with his other family members. Which is just as it should be. The footage of Lachlan and Matthew cuddling during the celebrations, along with his mum, was especially sweet. Awwww.]

[Pics via www.daylife.com]

9 comments:

Bodhi said...

Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy! :-)

http://itssydneybitch.blogspot.com/search/label/Matthew Mitcham

Mel said...

My understanding is that his partner was able to be there for his win. He's quite the cutie. Scary to think that either of us could quite literally be his daddy, though.

Anonymous said...

Yes, his partner was there:

"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." - Sydney Morning Herald.

Nice to know that they're not discriminating.

Tom said...

It's wonderful how EVERY blog has this story this morning (well the blogs which matter anyway). I was just on James' blog and the thing on his sidebar which shows latest blogposts from his blogroll was 100% Matt! :)

I was following it on t'interwebz and it was nervewracking to watch the scores slowly come through (channel 7 sucks big time as they barely showed it).

Yup, I heard his boyfriend was there and paid for by the sponsor which is good! :)

jason said...

So great!

The Other Andrew said...

Excellent, I hadn't checked the papers before posting this so it's great to hear that Lachlan was there.

Mel, I know! Makes us both pervy old men then, right?

Tom, channel 7 have made amends by replaying it endlessly! I saw it three times today before I went out at lunchtime...

Michael said...

Really cool. I wasn't that aware of him until he was last week's Advocate cover boy. I agree, it's very cool that he's the GOLD MEDALIST and not just the gay diver. And it sounds like Johnson & Johnson sponsored his bf's trip with nary a fuss over there? What, no boycott threats? That's un-American! Which, yeah, exactly.

CONGRATULATIONS, MM!

Unknown said...

I was in tears yesterday watching this - he is such a sweetie, and I hope this is the beginning of big things for my new favourite olympian.

And I had a funny feeling you'd be posting about him!

The Other Andrew said...

Lara, as Tom said in his comment all the gay bloggers have been in quite a lather over him! :)

And you are right, such a sweetie! Expect to see him in almost every gay mag soon.