Two weeks after shocking the diving world by winning the gold medal in Olympic platform diving, Australian Matthew Mitcham has been honored with a stamp but as yet has secured no sponsorship deals, though one is rumored. Read complete article here.

Thanks to a reader for this adorable photo of Australian gold medal diver Matthew Mitcham and his partner Lachlan Fletcher. I am not sure when it was taken, but they certainly look like the happy couple. For more photos, videos and articles about Mitcham’s gold-medal diving performance check out our Matthew Mitcham archive.

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NBC defended its decision not mention Australian diver Matthew Mitcham’s sexual orientation with a series of answers that were more spin than fact.

Matthew Mitcham made me cry.

It takes a lot for me to weep while watching sports, but that’s how moving his gold-medal diving performance was Saturday in Beijing.

I teared up when he first saw the score from his final five and looked on in disbelief.

A terrific 15-minute video edited from the worldwide Olympic feed showing all six of Mitcham’s final dives, the celebration after where he hugs practically every diver, the medal ceremony and him jumping into the stands to give his flowers and a kiss to his partner, Lachlan Fletcher. After the jump.

When Matthew Mitcham greeted the media after winning his 10-meter platform diving gold, he raced over to hug reporter Jessica Halloran of the Sydney Morning Herald, who wrote Mitcham’s coming out story with great sensitivity back in May. Halloran followed up today with the only article I could find that discusses Mitcham’s relationship with his partner, Lachlan Flecther.

He kissed him briefly in the stands and gave him his Olympic bouquet. Later, outside the glowing blue Water Cube, Matthew Mitcham and his partner, Lachlan Fletcher, firmly embraced, both shedding tears. …

Great video of Matthew Mitcham talking outside the diving arena after winning the gold medal, flanked by his mom, Vivienne, and his partner, Lachlan Fletcher. Mitcham is very funny and endearing:

Matthew Mitcham’s boyfriend, Lachlan Fletcher, was in the stands when he won the 10-meter platform gold. I found this Reuters picture and was wondering if anyone out there knows if the guy on the left is Lachlan?  Thanks!

Update: It is Mitcham’s partner, Lachlan. Screen capture from Aussie TV after the jump. Here is a nice profile of Mitcham and Fletcher’s relationship.

That was a question we touched upon in my gays in sports media panel at the NLGJA Convention this morning just after Mitcham won gold. They didn’t mention it Friday night during the semis. But for them to not mention that the only publicly out male athlete in Beijing won a gold medal would be ignoring a major angle to the story. They have it on his NBCOlympics.com profile. We’ll see if they mention it tonight.

Bob Ballard is covering diving for the BBC. He wrote this account of Mitcham’s gold-medal performance for Outsports.

By Bob Ballard

We knew it was a good last dive - everyone in the commentary area sprang out of their chairs like they had suddenly been electrocuted, but when the marks came up, a hush descended on the Water Cube, while the commentators, myself included, went into overdrive.

In one of the biggest upsets at the Beijing Olympics, out diver Matthew Mitcham won a gold medal in the 10m platform. The Chinese were heavily favored in the event, and Mitcham was behind Zhou Luxin by about 35 points going into the final dive. But Mitcham hit an unbelievable score of 112.10 on his sixth and final dive to win by just over three points.

“It’s absolutely surreal. I never thought that this would be possible,” Mitcham said.

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.

Bob Ballard is covering diving for the BBC. He wrote for Outsports about Matthew Mitcham’s dives in the 10-meter platform prelims.

By Bob Ballard

Remember that ill-at-ease, almost petrified looking Aussie I was telling you about who competed in the 3-meter diving competition the other day, and looked out of his depth? What a difference a few days make.

20 year old Matt Mitcham appeared a completely different man on the Platform, or Tower as the Australians like to call it.

Out Australian diver Matthew Mitcham has qualified for the semifinals in men’s 10m platform diving, finishing second in the preliminary round, missing the top seed by just over 30 points. Both American divers, Thomas Fincham (7th) and David Boudia (6th), have also qualified. Whereas Mitcham barely made the semifinals of the 3m springboard and failed to make the finals, he has set himself up for a serious run at a medal with his prelim performance. NBC will surely show his dives tonight in primetime; and it will be interesting, with their commentators often talking about athletes’ girlfriends, husbands and personal lives, if they’ll mention that he’s the only openly gay male athlete in Beijing.

Out Aussie diver Matthew Mitcham faces the final diving event of the Beijing Games, the 10m platform, beginning with the preliminaries at 7pm Beijing time (7am EST) Friday. Mitcham failed to qualify for the 3m springboard final earlier this week. The 10m platform is thought to be his better event. Americans David Boudia and Thomas Finchum will also compete. China is 7-for-7 in diving gold medals at these Olympics. Can anyone spoil their quest for a sweep?

In watching the Olympic diving competition, two out-of-pool things stick out: Why do they all take a shower immediately after and what’s up with those shammies they wipe themselves off with?

Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, 20, the only publicly gay male Olympian in Beijing, finished 16th out of 18 divers in the 3-meter springboard Tuesday and failed to qualify for the finals (only the top 12 divers reach the finals).

Bob Ballard of the BBC is covering the diving competition in Beijing. He wrote for Outsports about the first day of  competition for openly gay diver Matthew Mitcham:

By Bob Ballard
BBC for Outsports

I hadn’t even considered the possibility and I doubt if he had either, but Matthew Mitcham came mighty close to not making the semifinals of the 3-meter springboard in Beijing.

Out Aussie diver Matthew Mitcham has qualified for the semifinal round with his six dives in today’s 3m springboard prelims. Mitcham qualified 15th; eighteen divers qualified. Predictably, Chinese men sit first and second. Both American divers, Chris Colwill and Troy Dumais, also qualified. The semis will be held Monday night at 10pm EST and can be followed here if NBC isn’t showing them live.

Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, the only publicly gay male at the Games, dives for the first time on Monday. He has a website that allows you to send a “shout out.” Click on the front of his site and the “Shout Box” is on the left. It would be cool if Outsports readers let him know we’re behind him (figuratively, of course).

The 2008 Olympics’ only openly gay male athlete will make his Olympic debut Monday in diving’s 3m springboard preliminaries. Matthew Mitcham, of Australia, is expected to advance beyond the prelims, though his better event is the 10m platform which will take place later this week. You can follow results live at 7am Eastern / 4am Pacific here. The semifinal round will take place at 10pm EST (Mon), and one can only hope NBC will show it live. NBC is likely to delay coverage of the final until the primetime broadcast Tuesday night (though the event will happen at 8:30am EST), and they will focus heavily on American’s Troy Dumais and Chris Colwell. It will be interesting to see whether Mitcham’s sexual orientation is mentioned. For pics, videos and more, check out Matt’s web site.

The Summer Olympics just keep getting bigger. There are 302 gold medals up for grabs in Beijing. That’s a gold medal every 47 minutes for the sixteen-day span of the games. Doesn’t sound so special when it’s put that way, does it? But is that BMX gold medal really as significant as the historic one Michael Phelps won last night? No, and there are good reasons why. Follow the jump for an in-depth analysis of the most valuable gold medals and the sports that don’t even deserve to be in the Olympics.

The British synchronized diving team of Blake Aldridge and 14-year-old Tom Daley was hoping to contend for a medal last night. Instead, they finished dead last. It seems they blew up at each other before their final dive when Aldridge got on the phone to talk to his mother (yes, moments before their final Olympic dive). Daley reprimanded his diving partner, swearing at him, and Aldridge fired back after the event was over.

Synchronized platform diving partners David Boudia and Thomas Finchum finished a very respectable 5th place Monday in what is one of the summer Games’ hottest events. The American pair showed poise and confidence and appear ready to compete for individual medals next week, when they dive against openly gay Aussie stud Matthew Mitchum. Check out this interview with Finchum talking about how close he and Boudia are. I’m just sayin’.

It appears that Matthew Mitcham, the Aussie diver with the highest-profile of the 10 gay athletes at the Oympics, will make his debut on Aug. 18 when the Men’s 3m springboard preliminaries open. The finals take place the next day. Mitcham’s other event, the 10m platform, opens Aug. 22, according to a schedule of events.

Give credit to NBC, whose bio of Mitcham doesn’t shy away from his sexual orientation or the struggle to have his boyfriend attend the Beijing Games.