Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, whom we are following since he is the only openly gay male Olympian, has qualified for the finals at the men’s 10-meter platform and will dive for a medal early Saturday U.S. time.
Mitcham started slowly in the first of his six semifinal dives, but excelled in his final five to finish second, sandwiched between two Chinese divers. The top 12 divers make the final. Americans David Boudia and Thomas Finchum also made the final, as did 14-year-old Brit Thomas Daley.
NBC showed Mitcham dive five times and made no reference to him being openly gay. I can’t fault the announcers since they strictly focused on the dives and gave very little personal information about any of the divers. Analyst Cynthia Potter was very praise-worthy of Mitcham and his chances at a medal, calling him a “real up-and-comer.” NBC’s website does mention Mitcham being gay in its biography of him.
Related: Since this post appeared, Mitcham won the gold medal. Check out our Matthew Mitcham Olympics archive for articles, commentary, photos and video, including Matthew’s partner Lachlan.
By Jim Buzinski
4 responses so far ↓
1 Dan // Aug 23, 2008 at 3:22 am
I watched the semi online (missed the first dive though). Mitchy (Umm… yeah, I gave him a nickname :P) did seem to have loosen up quite a bit since the 3m springboard.
The chinese divers are consistently getting high 80s and even 90s. But his last dive was huge! 106! If he keeps up, he can total win a medal. (Looks like he will have some stiff competition from the two chinese divers and the russian. And one can’t count out anyone in this final.)
I’m considering staying up until 4am (PST) to catch this final… it’s all because of you people, i’m like hooked on seeing him race and hopefully get a medal.
2 Kirk // Aug 23, 2008 at 3:29 am
I’m struck by how long he takes on the platform before he does his dive — even when he’s doing a handstand. If someone else is more familiar with judging and could say how that sort of thing might or might not effect his score, I’d like to know!
As a funny aside, I was watching this with my two straight roommates, who had already developed the opinion that the two American divers in contention were sleeping with each other (based on their synchro event). And I have to admit I did get a vibe or two, especially from the shorter one. When Matt came up, he did his dive, and they were both impressed. I told them, ‘And he’s gay. The only out male athlete that we know of at the games.’ They were still impressed, and even a bit chastened (even though it was a friendly busting on each other we like to do on the whole gay thing). It was great to see him continue to do well, and I look forward to the finals.
3 john miller // Aug 24, 2008 at 3:54 am
you made my day, so proud of you for such an achievement. and what a cutie you are
4 maria // Aug 24, 2008 at 6:55 am
i watched the prelims and was so impressed that i watched all the rest well done……
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