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.
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.
