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Openly Gay Diver Wins Diving Gold
23-Aug-2008
Written by: E. Van Dril
China finally lost a gold medal in a diving event.
Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, the only openly gay athlete at the Olympic games, defeated Chinese favorite Zhou Luxin in the 10 meter platform event Saturday.
Mitcham was the first Aussie diver to win gold since 1924, and his 4.8 point defeat of Luxin prevented China from sweeping the diving events at the games.
This is somewhat groundbreaking, given that Mitcham is indeed the only openly gay athlete in the Olympics, but he is not the only gay athlete to ever win at the Olympics.
Most notably, American diver Greg Louganis won several golds in his prime, but waited to share his orientation with the world after he retired from diving.
“Being gay and diving are completely separate parts of my life,” Mitcham said after winning the gold. “Of course there’s going to be crossover because some people have issues, but everyone I dive with has been so supportive.”
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