Congratulations to Mathew Mitcham – I think I’m right in saying the only out gay guy in the Olympics. Congratulations for his coming through depression, and burnout and coming back and doing so well. Mathew was stoked to be getting silver. Then the guy coming first dived not so well and Mathew did the most highly scored Olympic dive of all time. He got out of the pool with a huge smile on his face, made a generous bow to the audience – I’m guessing his family group in the crowd – then looked at the scoreboard, realised he’d won the gold medal and burst into tears.
The cameras didn’t seem too comfortable including boyfriend Lachlan in the frame, but Mathew wasn’t phased and just alternated between kissing his mum and his lover. They didn’t have much choice then did they! A small act of humanity, like Nicky Winmar’s iconic pointing to the colour of his skin. And yet there was no anger or defiance – just natural affection. Makes me feel all good inside.
Congratulations Mathew Mitcham – Troppo’s official Cutie of the Week!!.
I agree. It was humourous watching how the different channels tried to cover (or not to cover) his boyfriend. It’s also funny that Stephanie Rice has a boyfriend, but he has a partner.
Yes, I wonder if mum would have got the bulk of the camera attention if there’d been a gorgeous girlfriend on the other arm.
Nice post.
How modern – perhaps a little condescending?
I’m torn between been pleased that athletes (if only a few) feel free to come out, and worrying the coverage is patronising. Maybe I’m over-analysing.
Pretty sure you are Nico. ;)
He’s like a cuter David Wenham.
I suppose Nico’s onto something in a way… like, if I went to meet with my bank manager and he or she was aboriginal, I don’t think I could stop myself thinking “gee, that’s great!”. I suppose it’s a sort of patronising, but it’s not a sort I’d be too worried about.
I guess I have that same sort of patronising happy feeling when I see aboriginals do so well on the footy field. But I’ll feel it even more when we do indeed start seeing more aboriginal bankers, doctors, lawyers etc..
Nice write up in Outsports.com
I couldn’t help noting that he looks and sounds like Thorpey’s little brother.
He’s much butcher than Thorpie!
FDB and Melaleuca – exactly. And hopefully the day will come when it no longer seems such a rare thing.
On another related point – the Olympic coverage was abysmal, unless you like volleyball and softball. We only had two TV channels. Why the hell, in 2008, can we not watch whatever event we want? What an utter failure of the amrket system. I hardly saw any field events. Good highlights programs were missing.
And I was amazed that there didn’t seem to be any illegal web feeds around (unless you can speak chinese).
As for Mitcham’s dive – it took me ages to finally see it. It appears on Youtube from time to time and then disappears – presumably illegal.
I loved seeing this guy win – such a nice guy, and he’s come through so much. Very cute. :)
Outsports rule. Here’s an edited video showing all of Matthew’s dives (including the incredible stonking last one), plus his really natural reaction:
http://outsports.com/olympics2008/2008/08/24/video-mitchams-6-dives-medal-ceremony/
Chris, you have to give up on youtube. They take down anything related to FIFA, the IOC, or just about anyone with the time to write them a letter.