After narrowly
missing out on qualifying for the three-meter springboard
finals earlier this week, out Australian diver Matthew
Mitcham took home the gold in the 10-meter platform
competition, preventing the Chinese from taking gold
in all eight diving categories.
After narrowly
missing out on qualifying for the three-meter springboard
finals earlier this week, out Australian diver Matthew
Mitcham took home the gold in the 10-meter platform
competition, preventing the Chinese from taking gold
in all eight diving categories.
According to the
Los Angeles Times, Mitcham bounced back
with an impeccably timed final dive in last night’s
competition, earning four perfect 10's from the judges,
pulling ahead of the competition’s favored
winner, Chinese diver Zhou Luxin.
Luxin had been
leading Mitcham going into last night’s finals by
more than 30 points. But he faltered on his last dive,
blowing his entry, according to the Times, and
giving Mitcham an opportunity to clinch the gold.
"It's going to
take a while to sink in," Mitcham told the Associated
Press, fighting back tears. "My cheeks hurt from smiling.
My face hurts from the chlorine. My legs are sore from
jumping up and down. I'm in pain and I'm tired. But
I'm so happy."
The win marks a
huge turnaround for the 20-year-old Australian diver, who
earlier this week finished 16th out of 18 competitors in the
three-meter semifinals.
Mitcham is the
first openly gay Australian to compete in the Olympics.
His coming-out was well documented in the Australian press
when he applied for financial aide to help pay for his
boyfriend to join him in Beijing for the Games.
“I just
want to be known as the Australian diver who did really well
at the Olympics,” Mitcham told The
Advocate in an interview with the magazine last
month. “It’s everybody else who thinks
it’s special when homosexuality and elite sport go
together.”
Click here to read The Advocate's
cover story. (The Advocate)
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