NBC gets coverage of Matthew Mitcham's sexual orientation mostly right the second time around

Diving tears and diving smiles

We're more than a little sad that our friend Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham won't be taking home another Olympic medal. He did great work and gave it his all, living up to ouIr motto of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and to the motto "Once an Olympian, always an Olympian".

We know Matthew will continue to do great things and be a force for joy and progress in the world, and we are proud to have him by our side as we work toward equality in and through sport.

We take some consolation that the Chinese sweep was prevented by bronze medal winner Tom Daley and by gold medal winner David Boudia. We are pleased that the work of Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis has a claim to some of that success, having served as mentor to the US diving team in London.

Huffington Post profile of Greg Louganis

A great profile of Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis in the UK version of Huffington Post:

They say you should never meet your hero. He'll always let you down. Well, I have, and he didn't.

The 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul was memorable for two things - Ben Johnson's red-eyed corruption of the 100-metre sprint, and double Olympic gold medallist diving champion Greg Louganis hitting his head on the board.

"My first feeling was one of embarrassment" - says Greg Louganis of his 1988 encounter with the board

Louganis was the golden boy of the diving pool, with two golds to his name from the previous Games in LA. He was expected to become the first man in history to defend both his springboard and platform titles.

So how did it feel when it all went so wrong during the springboard preliminaries, and he went splat in front of all those people?

"My first feeling was one of intense embarrassment," he remembers, 24 years later. Then that trickled into anxiety. But I have to admit, there was also a feeling of relief, because I was under so much pressure to do well, and suddenly everyone stopped expecting anything. It freed me up."

Keep reading about Greg Louganis

Matthew Mitcham a model for an athlete coming out

From Jim Buzinski's look at Matthew Mitcham's coming out and how things have changed since 2008:

Four years later, things are a different, but in a positive way. In London, it's Mitcham diving and not his sexual orientation that is the focus. He has built a template for how someone should come out.

In reading coverage of Mitcham in the lead-up to competing Friday in London, I was struck by how his sexuality is often not mentioned - he is Matthew Mitcham, diver, not Matthew Mitcham, gay diver. That's progress.

It's not as if Mitcham tries to hide who he is. He is a spokesman for gay marriage in Australia, posing for an "I Do" campaign in a magazine. He was the grand marshal of Sydney's famous gay Mardi Gras parade. In 2010, he was named a Gay Games ambassador and did more than just lend his name. He came to Cologne, Germany, and participated in the Opening Ceremonies and hung out with other athletes; he was utterly charming and everyone wanted their picture taken with him and he happily obliged.

Read in full

#GOMATTGO

Our friend and Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham is diving in the Olympic 10m platform semifinals.

On behalf of the Gay Games family we wish  him luck and assure him our friendship and support. However you dive, you're a great guy!

Greg Louganis documentary in the works, with filming at the Olympics

Now on Kickstarter, "Back on Board", a documentary in progress on Greg Louganis:

When Greg Louganis hit his head on the diving board at the 1988 Seoul Games, it was an unforgettable moment of the Olympics. But when, despite his injury, he earned the highest single score for his next dive and went on to win the Gold medal, it was among the most incredible feats in sports history.

Olympic Champion Greg Louganis is considered by many to be the greatest diver of all time. We are making a feature-length independent documentary about Louganis to highlight his heroic personal story. We're here on Kickstarter because we need your help to finish shooting our film! Our goal is to get our film finished and released by 2013 -- the 25th anniversary of Greg's incredible performance in the 1988 Olympic Games.

We will be shooting with Greg in London in August during the Olympic Games and for a few more months this fall. We need to raise $50,000 to finish shooting. We ultimately need to raise over $300,000 to finish the film, but raising $50,000 now will allow us to keep going towards the finish line! You can be a part of this exciting project by pledging whatever you can afford.

Learn more HERE.

At announcement of Australian OIympic team, "The only outward sign of [Matthew Mitcham's] out-of-the-pool personality was a small 'Federation of Gay Games' stickpin stuck over his left side pocket"

A profile of Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham ahead of the Olympics:

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Defending his Olympic crown - the 10-meter platform title he snatched with his flawless final attempt in Beijing four years ago to deny China a sweep of the diving gold medals - is what 2012 is all about for him, Mitcham has repeated in countless interviews.

Beijing was something of a coming out parade for him. He generated plenty of commentary for being an openly gay athlete, but even more for a high-stakes final dive that ranked among the best in Olympic history.

Dressed neatly in a dark team polo shirt and long black trousers, Mitcham told The Associated Press that London will be different.

For a start, all the experiences around the competition won't be new. Besides, he's more likely to be recognized as the defending champion, not as the gay diver from Australia.

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He's such a big part of the team that Australia head coach Hui Tong accepted that the regular selection criteria was tweaked to allow Mitcham to concentrate on returning to full fitness rather than competing.

"His presence can make a big splash, bring a lot of respect," Hui said. "He's individually important to the whole team - means everybody's got a hope.

"He's a great competitor. He can rise to the occasion, in that moment. That's his greatest strength. He needs to concentrate on being fit, now."

[...]

At Australia's team announcement last month, Mitcham was conscious of the occasion and wanted to focus only on being a member of the squad. He didn't want to get too deeply into discussions about being a role model for gay athletes, or any issues outside of diving. The only outward sign of his out-of-the-pool personality was a small "Federation of Gay Games" stickpin stuck over his left side pocket.

To get a better insight into Mitcham as a person, go to Facebook, where he keeps friends and fans up-to-date and is a vocal campaigner for various causes.

He is honest, and he's out loud and proud.

[|...]

Read in full HERE.

Greg Louganis mentoring Olympic diving hopefuls

Gay Star News interviews Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis on his work with US Olympic divers:

American divers have failed to win any Olympic medals in the last two Summer Games and won just one in 2000.

So who better to motivate them than the man who has won more diving medals in US history: Greg Louganis.

Louganis, winner of two golds as the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, two gold at the 1988 Games in Seoul, and a silver at the 1976 Games in Montreal when he was still in high school, was brought in by US Diving in 2010 as an athlete mentor to the Olympic hopefuls.

He will be at the 2012 Games in London hoping to see some of the younger Americans make it to the winner's podium.

'I'm just hoping it's not too little too late because two years is not much time to prepare because preparation for an Olympic Games, it's really a lifetime endeavor,' he admits. 'You really are committed and it's an entire process.'

While his presence is welcomed by the athletes, Louganis says he has not felt the same embrace from all of the coaches.

'It's been a little challenging with the coaches,' he says. 'The divers have been very accepting. The coaches feel threatened in some way. I don't know why. But I'm not coaching, I'm not a coach. I'm a mentor.'

Keep reading HERE.

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Greg Louganis on how bullying made him stronger, once he no longer let himself be a victim

Greg Louganis shares his journey to triumph in the Huffington Post:

I almost want to thank all the bullies in my life: the ones who called me "n*gger," "retard," "sissy boy," and "f*ggot"; those who threatened to throw punches at me and took my lunch money at the bus stop; those who actually threw punches at me and rubbed my face in asphalt; my dad, who whipped me with his belt until I did a dive I was too scared to do in my regular practice; the coaches who belittled me and intimidated me into pushing myself beyond what I thought I was capable of; and the man who raped me at knifepoint, whom I then stayed with for another six years. They all helped shape me, and without those experiences I could not be the person I am today. I had to learn to "forgive" myself and then find it in my heart to "forgive" them and even bless the light in them, no matter how dim that light was. But thanking them would be going too far, and it would be inaccurate. In the end it was my inner sense of self, my willpower and determination, that got me through and helped me take those experiences and literally turn them into gold.

In 1988, at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, on my ninth dive in the men's 3-meter springboard preliminaries, I struck my head on the board. Going into that Olympic event I was the favorite to win a gold medal, but in that split-second I became the "underdog." I was scared, having been diagnosed as HIV-positive six months prior, and aware that I was in a country that would have deported me if my status were known. It was what followed that made me realize the strength and power I had within me. I was taken to a room off the pool deck, where my head was sewn up. It wasn't bad, just four or five stitches. When my coach, Ron O'Brien, asked if I wanted to continue, I responded, without thinking, "We worked too long and hard to get there, and I don't want to give up without a fight."

Keep reading HERE.

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Matthew Mitcham officially selected for Olympics

We are delighted to learn that Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham has been selected for the Australian team for the 2012 Olympics. Despite outstanding performance at the Olympic trials, he underperformed at the last Grand Prix event, meaning his qualification was not automatic, and depended on a decision from Diving Australia which has just been announced.

Good luck to Matthew in London!

Where does Greg Louganis rank on list of best US divers ever?

From BleacherReport.com:

There are few things in sports more astounding to witness than an Olympic diver in mid-leap. The sheer athleticism and speed with which they travel and maneuver is amazing.

For the male U.S. Olympic diving team, there has not been much to celebrate of late. Gone are the glory days of Greg Louganis and Sammy Lee. The U.S. team has not reached the podium since Mark Lenzi's bronze medal in 1996.

However, the team has a bunch of fresh-faced youngsters who are eager to return the respect to American diving. Though they may not like their standing on this list now, they have a chance to win some medals this summer and improve their place in the history books. Where they are come September, we can't know. So for now, find out where the young guns rank among the top 10 male divers in U.S. Olympic history.
Click HERE.

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As we approach London 2012, more opportunities to hear from Greg Louganis

The Federation of Gay Games is pleased an honored to have among our Ambassadors one of the greatest athletes in history, Greg Louganis, widely recognized as the greatest diver ever.

His sport receives more attention in an Olympic year than it does in the non-Olympic years combined, and we are delighted to see and hear Greg Louganis called on by the media to share his insights on this great sport.

When Greg speaks, it's also an opportunity to learn of the challenges of living with HIV, and of the progress made since he was forced to hide his status to compete in the Seoul Olympics. The restrictions he faced there were not the exception: the US only withdrew its HIV ban under the current Obama administration, and athletes, staff, and fans who need to travel to Qatar to the 2022 World Cup still risk exclusion.

As we work to pull down these barriers to participation and inclusion, let's enjoy this opportunity to see more of Greg Louganis, an outstanding athlete and human being, and thank him again for his service as a Gay Games Ambassador.

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Greg Louganis interview on US diving Olympic outlook

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

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Matthew Mitcham on his role as an advocate

The Sydney Morning Herald looks at Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham's upcoming second Olympic adventure, with a focus on his status as an advocate:

DIVER Matthew Mitcham looks forward to the day when his sexuality will be of as little interest as the colour of a person's hair, their eyes or even gender in day-to-day life, let alone in the Olympic Games, in which he will compete this year as a defending gold medallist in London.

But Mitcham, who won the 10-metre platform event at the 2008 Beijing Games shortly after revealing he was gay, realises that day is some time away - and that it won't arrive before the start of the London Olympics, which yesterday ticked under the ''100 days to go'' mark.

Hence, as he prepares to defend his Olympic title and live up to the expectations on him, Mitcham is still willing to carry the added weight of interest in his advocacy of gay rights."I certainly don't see it as a burden,'' Mitcham told the Herald yesterday after training in Sydney. I never did, especially with how much attention the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered] cause has been getting lately with marriage equality … and with how few openly gay sports stars there are around at the moment. I don't mind attention being put on it. Ideally I would like one day for sexuality to be as unimportant and uninteresting as hair colour, or eye colour or even just gender in general. One day it will get to that. But until it is easy for sports people to come out without fear of persecution or fear of lost sponsorship income and stuff like that, or fear of being comfortable in the team environment, I don't mind attention being brought to my sexuality in the hope that it might make other people feel more comfortable … in being comfortable enough about who they are in their sporting environment."

Keep reading HERE.

Congratulations to Matthew Mitcham on his great performance at Olympic trials!

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Matthew Mitcham hopes he's sounded an Olympic-sized warning with a perfect dive at Australia's nomination trials for the London Games.

Mitcham scored perfect 10s from seven judges on dive five in the 10m platform final in Adelaide on Wednesday.

"It's nice to be back," said Mitcham, the reigning Olympic champion.

Keep reading HERE.

Matthew Mitcham on the road to London

A video from the New South Wales Institute of Sport

Greg Louganis interview on his career, his support for the Gay Games, and what's coming up next

Here are a few extracts from a great interview by Laurence Watts in PinkNews:

He won his first Olympic medal at the age of 16. Eight years later he became the first man in 56 years to win two diving golds at the same Olympics. Four years after that, in Seoul, he added two more gold medals to his haul, despite famously hitting his head on the springboard during qualifying. He came out at the 1994 Gay Games. Laurence Watts meets Greg Louganis.

[...]

“For a while, between eight and twelve-years old, I did all three: diving, acrobatics and gymnastics. But back then gymnastics wasn’t done on sprung floors and the dancing took place on concrete. By the time I was twelve my doctor said I had to give up acrobatics and gymnastics because I had bad knees. From then on I concentrated on diving, still with a desire to one day make the Olympics. After a year, I was world champion for my age group. By the time I was sixteen I’d made the US Olympic team.”

It was at his first Olympics, at the age of sixteen, that Greg won a silver medal in the 10m-platform event. For many athletes an Olympic silver medal is the crowning achievement of their career. Not so for Louganis. His Olympic career was however substantially hindered four years later, when President Carter decided America would boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics, in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

[...]

It was while appearing in New York in the play ‘Jeffrey’ that Louganis was approached by Kile Ozier to record a message for the opening ceremony of 1994’s Gay Games. Louganis, who had long been out to his friends and family, decided it was time to make a public announcement and agreed.

“I’d never been open about my sexuality with the media before,” he tells me. “If I’d discussed my sexuality while diving I would have been known as ‘the gay diver’. The US media would have jumped on it. They love labels. I always wanted the focus to be on my diving, which is why I kept my sexuality to myself.”

Regardless, I put it to Greg that he would still have won the medals he did whether he’d been out or not.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I had a tough time making the teams. Although I usually won the titles, there were a lot of National Championships where I came in second. Diving is definitely one of the more objective sports because in competition they always knock off the highest and lowest scores, but homophobia ran pretty deep in the sport at the time.”

Louganis had another secret he wanted to be free of as well: six months before the 1988 Olympics he’d tested positive for HIV. He’d kept the diagnosis secret for a simple reason: the Korean authorities wouldn’t have let him in for the Olympics had they known his status. Greg knew this very well. He had wanted to share his Olympic experience with his friend, Ryan White, but White was denied a Korean visa on the grounds that he was HIV positive.

[...]

These days however, Greg’s name is being mentioned in the same breath as that of a much younger diver. In May 2008, shortly before the Beijing Olympics, Matthew Mitcham announced he was gay in an interview with Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald. When did Greg first hear about Matthew?

“The first I heard was friends asking me if I’d seen the story,” he answers. “By the time he reached Beijing he was constantly being asked about me and vice versa. It was easy for me: I was at home so I could just not answer the phone. He was at the Olympics. There was no avoiding it. I understand why people make the comparison, but it’s really not fair on either of us. He’s his own person and that’s something I really tried to convey to him when I met him recently. He’s doing great. He’s just got to believe in himself and not worry about the other stuff.”

Like me, Greg watched on television as Matthew won Olympic gold in Beijing’s 10m-platform event. I ask him if his own wins flashed back at that moment?

“It wasn’t a flashback,” he tells me. “I just knew what he was going through. It was unfortunate that NBC’s commentary here in America was so distracting. Matthew was the only openly gay athlete competing in Beijing, but NBC ignored the wider story and referred to Matthew’s partner as his ‘friend.’ I have to admit my appreciation of the moment was overshadowed by my annoyance with what appeared to be censorship by NBC.”

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Matthew Mitcham performs well at Olympic warm-up event

From the Sydney Morning Herald's report on Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham's performance at a test event at the diving pool to be used at the 2012 Olympics:

Matthew Mitcham has taken a shine to the diving venue for the London Olympics after coming to grips with its quirks.

The Beijing champion in the 10m showed that he would be a contender at the London Games by impressing in qualifying at the test event.

In only his second international competition in ten months, he was fourth on 498.80 points and within sight of Chinese pace-setter Lin Yue (519.80).


He said his first competitive outing at the Olympic aquatics centre was a major confidence booster some five months out from the main event.

"I exceeded my expectations which is nice," he said.

"I was expecting to come like 15th so to come fourth after expecting 15th is a massive surprise to me."

Mitcham, who has had a horrible run with injuries over the past 18 months, said it had taken him time to adapt to the Olympic venue this week.

"I have been trying to adjust to the pool, there are a few different things to get used too," he said.

Keep reading HERE.

Olympic diving hopeful says "It Got Better" for his dads

Jordan Windle is a young diver who made this "It Gets Better" message.

Jordan is a junior national platform diving champion and hopes to be part of Team USA at the 2012 Olympics.

Jordan's story as an adoptee is told in the book An Orphan No More, with a foreword by Gay Games Ambassador Greg Louganis.

View it below, and visit our "It Gets Better" page HERE.

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Matthew Mitcham coming to Leeds

As many have been reporting (including the Yorkshire Evening News), the Australians are coming to Leeds:

Divers from Down Under are the latest Olympic stars to reveal they will set up camp in Leeds.

On Australia Day, it has been announced that around nine Aussie divers will be training at the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport in July, before heading to London for the 2012 Games.

The team is likely to include reigning Olympic 10-metre champion Matthew Mitcham, along with Alexandra Croak – who made history in 2010 by becoming the first Australian to win gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in two different sports.