Matthew Mitcham

Diver

At 20 years of age, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham is the youngest member of this year’s list. At the Beijing Olympic Games he received the highest single-dive score in Olympic history and brought home a gold medal for his efforts on the 10m platform, making him the first Australian male to win an Olympic gold medal in diving since 1924. Matthew was also the only openly gay male medal winner at this year’s games. His honesty and openness about his sexuality won him legions of fans around the world, but has that come at the cost of securing a sponsorship deal?

“I won’t lie, it has crossed my mind that perhaps coming out affected my chances of sponsorship, and that perhaps I should have thought twice before telling the journalist about my partner… but I’d like to hope that Australia is beyond discrimination against homosexuality, and that that’s not the reason. But I’m an honest person, I knew I was going to be in the public eye. I thought keeping that part of myself hidden was kind of like lying. The country wouldn’t be getting to know me if they didn’t know all of me, the real me.”

For someone so young, Mitcham seems to know himself pretty well. In many ways he’s had to grow up fast. He realised he was gay by the age of ten, he’d come out to his mother at fourteen, and spent a good chunk of his teens battling serious depression, which almost forced him to retire from sport altogether.

“I’m not quite sure why I suffered from depression. There were a lot of things in my life that were too much for me. I had a lot on my plate. A lot of it was because of diving - I sacrificed a lot for it and it took such a long time to see any rewards. After giving up a social life with all my friends I started to resent the sport, and not being happy permeated other areas of my life as well. I think depression is something that affects people for a very long time too, it’s not something that gets fixed instantly.”

When asked what got him through that time in his life, Mitcham says his partner Lachlan was a big help. “Taking time away from sport was a huge help too - just living a normal life and getting away from it all was what I needed. And then when I started to miss it I came back and I was there because I wanted to be there, not because I felt it was the only option I had.”

As it turned out, Mitcham’s return to diving not only resulted in a fulfillment of one of his life-long dreams, but it also thrust him onto the world stage, where countless others around the globe watched on in hope, and took a little part of his victory for themselves.

“It’s not really one’s choice to be a role model, it’s the person who looks up to you that makes that decision. For someone to be influenced by you, and to be touched by what you’ve done is really special. Not many people get to effect others like that. It’s a real honour.”

At such a young age, Mitcham’s certainly got a strong head on his shoulders. And while doubts may loom over his immediate sponsorship prospects, at least he knows who he is.

“I’ve come out and have done the different thing - now it’s up to the companies, the businesses, the people of Australia to stand up against discrimination and give me a sponsorship.”

By Christian Taylor