Gay Diver Matthew Mitcham Still in the Hunt for Gold

He may not have made the finals on the 3 meter, but openly gay diver Matthew Mitcham made a triumphant return in the 10 meter preliminaries.

Mitcham, who has become perhaps the most famous of the openly gay athletes of the Beijing Games, finished in second place—easily advancing him to the next round.

Mitcham's performance marks a strong bounce back from the 3 meter competition, where he failed to make the semifinals.* Although he finished about 30 points behind the leader, China's Zhou Luxin, the Australian diver fought off Russian Gleb Galperin by almost ten points.

American divers David Boudia and Thomas Finchum, who have become fan favorites throughout the Beijing Games, will also be moving on to the semis. Boudia finished sixth in this prelim round, while Finchum was nipping at his heels in seventh.

The LGBT community is rooting strongly for Matthew Mitcham, who competed in the men's 3 meter springboard event earlier at the Olympic Games. He graced the cover of The Advocate magazine and made headlines across Australia as the only athlete from that country competing in the Games to be openly gay. And we couldn't be more proud of him.

Gay Diver Matthew Mitcham Still in the Hunt for Gold
Gay Wired, CA