Openly gay Olympic gold medal diver Matthew Mitcham will attend the Gay Games in Cologne this summer, the Federation of Gay Games has announced. While he won’t be competing (good news for those under-30 divers out there!), he will attend various events as a Gay Games ambassador.
I'm excited to be part of something so important for our communities around the globe. … Participating at the Gay Games is a great chance for all gays and lesbians to show that we as a community are not like the stereotypes the straight media loves to portray. I will take time off from training and travel to Cologne, since I strongly feel we have to celebrate our own values and help others to accept that it is ok to be different.
Openly gay Olympic gold medal diver Matthew Mitcham will attend the Gay Games in Cologne this summer, the Federation of Gay Games has announced. While he won’t be competing (good news for those under-30 divers out there!), he will attend various events as a Gay Games ambassador.
I'm excited to be part of something so important for our communities around the globe. … Participating at the Gay Games is a great chance for all gays and lesbians to show that we as a community are not like the stereotypes the straight media loves to portray. I will take time off from training and travel to Cologne, since I strongly feel we have to celebrate our own values and help others to accept that it is ok to be different.
This is a big boon for the Gay Games. In the gay-sports world, there may be no bigger star than Mitcham. There are precious few celebrities I have any strong desire to meet, but Mitcham’s one; I certainly hope I run into him in Germany!
I chose the picture of Matthew above because he's holding a gold medal from Gay Games VI in Sydney. I actually own two of those gold medals. Imagine that, I have a gold medal that Mitcham doesn't have; While I treasure them, I'd trade my two for the one big gold medal he has in a heartbeat.
