Among the points made in this week's Telegraph article on Olympic diving gold medalist Matthew Mithcam, this discussion of the impact of being out on corporate sponsorship:Although he insists he has had nothing but positive feedback from fellow athletes and the media since going public, he admits he has attracted precious little corporate sponsorship compared to Australia's other gold medallists.
"I haven't experienced any homophobia in sport but I'm hoping I'm not experiencing any in the corporate world because I haven't had any companies rushing to sponsor me," he said. "It took me a very long time to secure any form of sponsorship after the Olympics, and that's still my only sponsorship."
And his attitude toward being a role model:
Mitcham, a former trampolinist from Brisbane, has become something of a gay role model since he became the only non-Chinese diver to win gold in the Water Cube. It is a responsibility he is happy to accept.
"As soon as anybody looks up to you, you automatically become a role model whether you choose to be or not, and you can either embrace it or not," he said. "I choose to embrace it and try to be the best role model I can be."
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