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The hunky Aussie was hosting the Closing Gala for the Melbourne Cabaret Festival when he decided to auction off his rather snazzy undies. The fetching patterned tiny lime green.
The pants sold for $1000. Whether they are being delivered clean is yet unclear.
Although Matthew Mitcham, the Australian diver crashed out in the 10m platform semi-finals yesterday he has decided that he will not be retiring from the sport after the London 2012 Olympics.
Mitcham, one of the very few openly gay male athletes in this year’s Olympics in London is quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying:
“Before coming to London, I’d pretty much decided that this was going to be my last Olympics. I was going to retire, just because of all the injuries and everything.
“I couldn’t see it getting any better, just how wearing 10m is on the body … but once I got here, all bets were off.
“The Olympics is just the most amazing experience and I never want to miss another one again. In no matter what capacity — whether it’s a diver, maybe just a springboard diver, or whether it’s media or anything, I’m definitely going to be in Rio, no matter what.”
Mitcham told the press that there were other options open to him such as the 3m springboard. He has experience as a 1m, 3m and 10 metre diver.
“I do have a history as a springboard diver, but I’ve never been solely a springboard diver”, Mitcham said.
“I’ve always been a platform diver and done springboard either to fill spots, or just because I was sort of semi-OK at it.
“But I have been in discussion with Chava my coach about the possibility of becoming solely a springboard diver … I’m not really going to take a holiday when I get home — I’m actually going to start working on the strength required to be a springboard diver straight away.
“It’s going to take a long time to get my thighs as big as [China’s] He Chong’s.”
After failing to reach a place in the finals, Mitcham said:
“I could never have done more.
“That’s what I have to say to make myself feel better … [and] no one can take that [gold medal] away from me, and that’s another thing that I can use as consolation, that I’m always going to be an Olympic champion.
“So there.”
His failure to achieve gold this year disappointed many of his fans, after promising to dive naked if he achieved gold.
Matthew Mitcham who is one of the only openly gay men in this year’s London Olympics
Matthew Mitcham who is one of the only openly gay men in this year’s London Olympics is due to take to the diving board tomorrow (10th August 2012 19.00hrs) when he goes head to head with the UK’s Tom Daley in the 10 metre diving finals
This is up from only 11 in the Beijing games, but this number still feels incredibly low if you take the ‘reasonable estimate’ from Stonewall that between 5 to 7% of the population is homosexual.
Outsports.com who originally broke the story of the openly gay Olympians said:
“There are stages of being out. There are many more LGBT athletes out to some people — family, friends, some teammates — than feel comfortable publicly declaring their sexual orientation. Athletes are focused solely on their sport and training and coming out publicly is seen as distracting from that. Straight athletes are “out” all the time, easily discussing wives or girlfriends but for a gay athlete, that’s more than just a simple statement.”
However there are some athletes who have embraced the media and their sexuality such as Matthew Mitcham, 24, the Australian diver, who has publicly used Twitter and the media to talk about his sexuality. He is the youngest out gay athlete in the games. When asked whether he saw himself as a ‘gay icon’ by the Australian TV show Sunrise he replied:
“I’ve never really thought of myself as an icon, maybe as a role model, I’ve always wanted to embrace that and be the best role model I can be for young sports people, gay people, just anybody who can draw inspiration from my story…”
Mitcham’s story is inspirational, and his country and countless fans across the globe have taken him into their hearts, regardless of his sexuality. His pranks have been picked up by the UK’s tabloids and his Twitter followers rise in the thousands everyday. Yet, the focus is on his antics rather than his sexuality, so maybe it is time for more athletes to come out, as the fall-out seems to be negligible.
Jim Buzinski from Outsports.com said:
“It helps, (having a strong role model like Mitcham) but people come out on their own terms and based on their own unique circumstances. Mitcham can actually have more of an impact on the wider gay world.”
The question remains however, that while homosexuality across the globe is becoming far more acceptable and as brands and big name companies start to champion gay rights what pressures are gay sportspeople facing? Is it financial?
“I find it hard to believe a company would ditch an out athlete, since that would be an enormous PR blunder. Companies like Nike are very pro-gay and would embrace such a person. But the prejudice and fear remain.” Says Jim Buzinski
The Independent recently reported that the UK is the ‘Best place in Europe’ to be gay, due to its laws and progressive policies supporting and protecting gay rights. So is it time with the world focussed on London and the United Kingdom, for the next month, for closeted sportspeople to feel empowered and to come out?
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He said: Umm, best Olympic photo ever? Me thinks #yes. #London2012
And we’d have to agree, it is an absolute stunner of a picture, which was taken at the athlete’s village and got his friend to take the candid pic.
‘It is not as high as it looks,’
said the 2008 10m platform gold medallist, who claimed it was ‘all’ his idea after posting the picture on Twitter.
‘It certainly was not 10 metres high. They are quite wide and quite safe so I had no fear about climbing that at all.’
Mitcham, 24, will renew his rivalry with Tom Daley in London.
Mitcham who is one of 20 openly gay athletes contending in this year’s Olympic games came out in May 2008. He has embraced a spokesman’s role for gay rights and as an active user of the social media site Twitter used it to say:
“Yes, I’m that gay, 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude.”
Matthew Mitcham the Australian Olympic diving hopeful tweeted this amazing picture yesterday.
He said: Umm, best Olympic photo ever? Me thinks #yes. #London2012
And we’d have to agree, it is an absolute stunner of a picture, which was taken at the athlete’s village and got his friend to take the candid pic.
‘It is not as high as it looks,’ said the 2008 10m platform gold medallist, who claimed it was ‘all’ his idea after posting the picture on Twitter.
‘It certainly was not 10 metres high. They are quite wide and quite safe so I had no fear about climbing that at all.’
Mitcham, 24, will renew his rivalry with Tom Daley in London.
Mitcham who is one of 20 openly gay athletes contending in this year’s Olympic games came out in May 2008. He has embraced a spokesman’s role for gay rights and as an active user of the social media site Twitter used it to say: “Yes, I’m that gay, 2008-Olympic-gold-medal-winning diver dude.”