Commonwealth Games 2018: Matthew Mitcham says being openly gay helped his career
MATTHEW Mitcham – the champion diver who won gold at the Beijing Olympics – has revealed the decision that helped him become a star of his sport.
Confidential
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MATTHEW Mitcham believes being openly gay spurred him to gold at the Beijing Olympics.
The retired professional diving champion says not being held back by personal struggles with his sexuality or fears of being outed freed him of the shackles to be the best he could be.
“Speaking from experience, being an openly gay authentic me, that had the most profound affect on my self esteem, which then had the most profound affect on my performance,” he said.
“It meant I was able to be present in my training sessions, which means I was able to give myself whole heartedly to every session and I was able to focus so intensely on the diving because I didn't have any of this social interactional sexuality stuff going on in the background.”
It has been 10 years since Mitcham won gold in the 10m platform diving at Beijing. His partner, Lachlan, was in the stand as he won gold but broadcaster NBC didn’t show Mitcham hugging and kissing his partner during his victory lap of the pool.
While a lot has changed in the equality movement since then, News Corp counted just 13 openly gay athletes out of the 6600 competing in the Commonwealth Games.
“How many are in the closet, we may never know,” said Mitcham, who is at the Commonwealth Games for a number of events and as part of the Channel Seven commentary team.
“There are 76 countries in the world where homosexuality is still illegal, 42 of those countries are in the Commonwealth. I think that goes a long way to explaining why there are so few openly gay and lesbian athletes here at this competition because in 42 of the countries that are here it is illegal to be gay.”
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“There are other reasons people don’t come out,” the 30-year-old said.
“People come from a wealth of different backgrounds where sexuality is not so openly embraced and people don’t feel they are able to be authentically themselves.”
While there are many personal reasons for hiding one’s sexuality, there can be professional ramifications too with claims by some athletes that gay athletes don’t attract the same sponsorship support as others.
“When I won my medal in Beijing, it took me ages to find any sponsorship,” Mitcham explained.
“One interpretation could be that because I competed as a publicly out gay man, it also just happened to be at the same time as the global financial crisis hit, so I could never say if it was one or the other.”
Mitcham cited Brit diver Tom Daley and American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy as examples of openly gay athletes with strong sponsorship relationships.
“Tom and Gus come from much larger economies as well so they would have a lot more opportunities at their disposal,” he said.
“I have to keep my powder dry so I don’t want to be putting anybody off but I think the best way for a company to demonstrate that an LGBTIQ person is not a hindrance to their brand is to actually sponsor a LGBTIQ athlete.”
As well as his commentating duties, Mitcham will take part in the Sparkle In The Sand event in Surfers Paradise on Monday and Pride House at Rise Bar on Cavill Avenue.
Others involved include Marcia Hines, Courtney Act, Beccy Cole, Alfie Arcuri and DJ Kitty Glitter.
“I would like to hope it gives them a bit of hope, when they do realise that they are not alone,” Mitcham said when asked what he hoped closeted gay athletes would take away from their experience in Australia.
“It is certainly something I was afraid of. Even living in Australia, I was afraid of being ostracised and isolated and rejected and I guess things like these even help me to realise how much of a wonderful community we have and if you were to be ostracised by your country of origin, you are going to be accepted into a wonderful whole community. I hope that gives people just a bit of faith and confidence.”
Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2018: Matthew Mitcham says being openly gay helped his career
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