Matthew Mitcham, the 20-year-old Australian who produced a sensational final dive to stun the diving world and take gold at the Beijing Olympics, said it is “sad” he was the only openly gay man at the Games.
Mitcham’s gold has propelled him into the spotlight, and he now hopes to pave the way for others after being the only man out of 10,500 Olympic athletes to publically say he was gay.
“I was actually very surprised I was the only ‘out’ male at the Olympic Games,” Mitcham told reporters yesterday.
“It’s a little bit sad I think, because statistically there should be a lot more but, you know what, it’s each to one’s own.
“I’m not going to pressure anybody else to come out of the closet because it’s their own choice.
“But I’m proud to be there, proud to be that one, that lots of other people can look up to.”
Before the games Mitcham struggled for money as he juggled diving training with an office job.
Now, with Ian Thorpe’s manager Dave Flaskas representing him, the new-found attention is set to bring in the sponsor dollars and make life easier in the lead up to London 2012.
“Money was a huge stress leading into the Olympics for two years and for that to not be a massive burden on me leading into the next Olympics would be nice,” Mitcham said.
“But that’s an ideal world and who knows what’s going to happen.”
