The print, one of several done by Watson of Mitcham, will be used by Stonewall UK as a fundraising gift. Mitcham has also been the subject of many photographs taken by the artist.

An unsigned Mitcham in the “Storm Sun” goes for between $660 and $1,390, and a McKellen signature would greatly increase that. Mitcham will be in London trying to win his second gold medal, following his stunning 2008 win in the men’s 10-meter platform.

McKellen signs the Mitcham print:

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Sean Dempster

We present our favorite photos of the past sports week.

This week’s offerings include Aussie Rules Football players playing the surf as part of a recovery session, a Chipper Jones sighting, diving from Fort Lauderdale, NFL minicamps, track and field and triathlon.

Click image for larger, full-sized view:

Photo 1: Stephen Milne, Terry Milera and Ahmed Saad walk out of the water during a St Kilda Saints AFL recovery session at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney-Getty Images)

Photo 2: Rhys Stanley of the Saints walks out of the water during the recovery session. (Photo by Quinn Rooney-Getty Images)

Photo 3: Sean Dempster of the Saints walks out of the water during the recovery session. (Photo by Quinn Rooney-Getty Images)

Photo 4: Ahmed Saad and Terry Milera of the Saints splash each other in the water during the recovery session. (Photo by Quinn Rooney-Getty Images)

Photo 5: Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones (10) celebrates scoring a run against the Cincinnati Reds at Turner Field.  (Photo by Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 6: St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter (13) celebrates after left fielder Matt Holliday (7) scores the game winning run on a single in the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. (Photo by Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 7: Jorge Lopez reacts after weighing in for his UFC fight against Amir Sadollah. (Photo by Rafael Suanes-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 8: Steele Johnson and Dashiell Enos (USA) dive during the men’s platform finals of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix at the Hall Of Fame Aquatics Center in Fort Lauderdale. ( Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 9: Ryan Hawkins and Logan Shinholder (USA) dive during the mens platform finals of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix (Photo by  Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 10: Rueben Ross (Canada) dives in the mens springboard finals of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix. (Photo by  Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 11: Denver Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman speaks to the media during minicamp at Broncos headquarters. (Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 12: Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen (USA) dive during the synchronized mens springboard finals of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix. (Photo by Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 13: Thomas Finchum (USA) during the mens platform finals of the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix (Photo by Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 14: Manuel Huerta (USA) celebrates as he crosses the finish line with a time of 1:49:31 and a ninth place finish to qualify for the Olympics in the men’s elite race of the ITU World Championship Series at Mission Bay Park in San Diego. (Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 15: Jonathan Brownlee (Britain) crosses the finish line with a time of 1:48:46 to win the men’s elite race of the ITU World Championship Series. (Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 16: Nick Ross of Arizona places third in the long jump in the 2012 Pac-12 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 17: Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly stretches during the afternoon workout session at the team’s minicamp. (Photo by Jeremy Brevard-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 18: Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden (3) is interviewed during rookie training camp at the Cleveland Browns training facility. (Photo by Eric P. Mull-USPRESSWIRE)

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9

We present our favorite photos of the past sports week.

This week’s offerings include Canada Cup diving, the NCAA men’s volleyball championships, world rowing, mixed martial arts, NFL minicamps and the funky hair of Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.

Click image for larger, full-sized view (and that image for the largest view):

Photo 1: Jesper Tolvers and Christofer Erskilsson (Sweden) in the men’s 10m synchro diving event at the Canada Cup in Montreal. (Photo by Jean-Yves Ahern-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 2: Francois Imbeau-Dulac (Canada) during the men’s 3m final of the Canada Cup (Photo by Jean-Yves Ahern-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 3: Jose Guerra (Cuba) during one of his dives at the Canada Cup. (Photo by   Jean-Yves Ahern-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 4: Michael Hixon and David Bonuchi (USA) during one of their dives at the Canada Cup. (Photo by Jean-Yves Ahern-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 5: Alexandre Despatie (Canada) during the men’s 3m final of the Canada Cup. (Photo by Jean-Yves Ahern-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 6: Boston Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks (64) is welcomed to home plate by designated hitter David Ortiz (34) after hitting a grand slam against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. (Photo by Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 7: UC Irvine Anteaters opposite hitter Carson Clark (9) and middle blocker Kevin McDonnell (5) react during the 2012 NCAA volleyball championship against the Southern California Trojans at the Galen Center. UCI defeated USC 25-22, 34-32, 26-24. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PREsSSWIRE)

Photo 8: UC Irvine Anteaters middle blocker Scott Kevorken (11) and setter Chris Austin (3) react during the 2012 NCAA volleyball championship. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 9: Dennis Bermudez (top) fights Pablo Garza in a featherweight bout during UFC on Fox 3 at the Izod Center in Easy Rutherford, N.J. Dennis Bermudez won by unanimous decision in third round. (Photo by Joe Camporeale-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 10: USA; John Hathaway (right) fights Pascal Krauss in their welterweight bout against Pascal Krauss during UFC on Fox 3 at the Izod Center. John Hathaway won by unanimous decision in the third round. (Photo by Joe Camporeale-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 11: Stergios Papachristos, Ioannis Tsilis, Georgios Tziallas and Ioannis Christou of Greece in the Men’s four during Day 1 of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup III  in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic-Getty Images)

Photo 12: Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Austria in the Lightweight men’s double Skulls during Day 1 of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup III in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)

Photo 13: Are Strandli and Kristoffer Brun of Norway reacts in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls during Day 2 of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup III  in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic-Getty Images)

Photo 14: Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper (34) in the dugout during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park. This is for Holly from Twitter after her special request. (Photo by Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 15: Indianapolis Colts tight ends Coby Fleener (80) and Dwayne Allen (83) run during minicamp. (Photo by Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE)

Photo 16: Cincinnati Reds center fielder Drew Stubbs (6) slides into third base against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. (Photo by Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE)

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“I like it because it’s instantaneous. And it’s an opportunity for you to give your opinion. In some other sports you have to come to a uniform decision between all the judges, but in diving everybody has their own score that they put up. It’s all your own business and your own thoughts.”

Latimer, 30, whose elite diving career was cut short by an injury, says being a judge allows him to stay close to the sport without the time commitment of being a coach. He also said there is a nice perk of being so close to the action, joking that diving, “particularly with the guys, can be quite easy on the eye.”

In his story for Outsports, Latimer wrote about regretting not coming out as gay while active, but he came out of retirement to dive at the 2006 Outgames (winning three gold medals) to honor a late friend.

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”Ideally I would like one day for sexuality to be as unimportant and uninteresting as hair color, or eye color or even just gender in general. One day it will get to that.

”But until it is easy for sports people to come out without fear of persecution or fear of lost sponsorship income and stuff like that, or fear of being comfortable in the team environment, I don’t mind attention being brought to my sexuality in the hope that it might make other people feel more comfortable … in being comfortable enough about who they are in their sporting environment.”

Mitcham’s Twitter feed describes him thusly: “Yes, I am that gay 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude. And yes, bro, I am quite sick.”

He is certainly rounding into top form, hitting a perfect dive this month while qualifying for the London Games. It is awesome that he continues to be a visible, articulate and effective spokesman for gay athletes while competing at a championship level. There is no athlete in London I will be rooting for more than Mitcham.

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“It’s nice to be back,” said Mitcham, 24. It looks like everything I’m doing is starting to work and fall into place. All my technique is starting to sharpen up a bit and I’m starting to dive like the old me again.”

Mitcham won the gold medal at Beijing in the 10-meter platform, upsetting the heavily favored Chinese, and became an instant celebrity for being an openly gay athlete. It will be awesome to watch him in London, rooting for him to get back-to-back gold.

Photos by Suzanne Ramke.

Hat tip to Noel.

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But the story of the World Cup was China’s clean sweep of all eight diving golds. In Beijing, they won seven of eight (with Mitcham snatching the other). Mitcham’s fate rests with how well he can get in shape after suffering from injury through most of 2011. Boudia has little shot at a gold this summer, but you never know…and he has a legit shot at a medal.

Brit Tom Daley and his synchronized partner Peter Waterfield were criticized for their performance in the Synchronized 10m Platform. But Waterfield scored big with the home London crowd, taking a bronze in the individual 10m. Both of them will be under the microscope this summer.

Photo: July 24, 2011; Shanghai, CHINA; David Boudia (USA) during the men’s 10m platform diving final at the 14th FINA World Championships. Mandatory Credit: OSports via US PRESSWIRE

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The technique I use for my arm stand requires a lot of upper body strength and I have just not developed that yet. It was a very small problem but it cost me a lot of points. If that had not happened it would have been smooth sailing. So when I go home I need to build up all that strength that I am lacking.

American David Boudia, on the other hand, will compete in the finals Saturday night. He finished fifth in the semifinals and is aiming for a medal, as he tweeted earlier today:

Photo: April 30, 2011; Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Matthew Mitcham (AUS) during one of his dives at the FINA diving grand prix men’s 10M final at Olympic Park Sports Center Pool. Mitcham won the gold medal. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-US PRESSWIRE

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This might fall into the TMI category, but Mitcham discloses that he has a pierced tongue, which he got during a rebellious phase, and then showed off the goods:

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He jumped in front of the camera recently, along with some other British Olympic hopefuls, to lip sync to LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It.” Video after the jump.

Hat tip to Towleroad.

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