Matthew Mitcham OAM
Matthew Mitcham OAM
Olympic Diving Gold
Matthew Mitcham won the Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in the 10m platform. He received the highest single-dive score in Olympic history and was the first Australian male to win an Olympic Gold medal in diving since Dick Eve at the 1924 Games. In 2020, Matthew was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Matthew produced the performance of his life and in doing so he denied China a clean sweep of all eight diving events on offer in Beijing’s Water Cube. Matthew’s background was remarkable: he had left the sport in 2006, disillusioned and depressed, and for a time had supported himself as a high diver at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show, plunging into a barrel of water. Before that he had trained for seven years with the AIS. “I left the sport without any intention of returning,” the 20-year-old Mitcham said after his win. “I’d fallen out of love with diving. I was emotionally and physically burnt out.” He found, though, that after six months he missed the sport, and returned to train for 18 months with a new coach. Mexican Salvador “Chava” Sobrino. The break, he found, had benefited him: “I came back with such a drive, a burning desire.”
In the Gold Medal Final, Matthew was 30 points behind the Chinese favourite Zhou Luxin before his last dive. To win he chose a back two-and-a-half somersault with one-and-a-half twists and a 3.8 degree of difficulty. “It was his best dive and that’s why we put it at the end,” Sobrino said. “The expectancy was around 106 to 108 points. But not 112, never.” Matthew was in pleasant pain: “My cheeks hurt from smiling, my face hurts from chlorine, my legs are sore … I’m so happy.”
Matthew returned to Olympic competition at the London 2012 Games. His Olympic title defence was cut short just missing out on the 12-man final.
Matthew publicly ‘came out’ as gay in 2008 to the SMH when they were profiling Olympic hopefuls. During the 2008 Olympics, he was also featured on the cover of the international gay publication The Advocate in August 2008 and March 2009, as well as the cover of Australian gay publication DNA. Matthew said when asked to comment on his coming out: "I don’t see sexuality as influencing my beliefs or opinions or perceptions of anybody, whether they’re gay, straight, bi, trans, experimental, I don’t care. I see it as a very uninfluential factor in people."
In 2009 and 2010, Matthew was selected by readers of samesame.com.au as one of the 25 most influential gay Australians.
In 2009, Matthew was the Chief of Parade of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Madi Gras after being declared the 2008 Australian Sports Performer of the Year. He also announced taking part in the Cologne 2010 Gay Games in Germany. He was seen promoting the Games.
In March 2015, he starred in 'Are You Ready For Freddie', a tribute video to Freddie Mercuryorganised by the Sydney Mardi Gras. The video went viral, reaching more than 1.3 million views.
On 3 June 2019, he announced his engagement to his British boyfriend Luke Rutherford after being together for seven months, they married on 22 February 2020.