The world watched with awe as out gay diver Matthew Mitcham brought home the gold medal for Australia on the 10-meter platform this past weekend.
Now, in an interview found on YouTube.com, a gracious Mitcham thanks his mom, as well as his long-time partner, Lachlan, who was able to be in Beijing with him thanks to the Athlete Family Support Program grant of $5,000 provided by Johnson & Johnson. (Read more about Mitcham's journey to the Olympics at Advocate.com.)
In the interview, Mitcham praises his Chinese rivals for the grace and skill in the sport. After sharing his slight disappointment that the event was so late in the schedule (he did not get to tour Beijing of visit the souvenir shops), he realizes the best souvenir of all hangs around his neck.
Despite intensive coverage by NBC of other Olympic athletes' families, it is interesting to note that Mitcham's partner received virtually no attention during the network's coverage. As Yahoo! Sportsreported this weekend, NBC did not include any mention of Mitcham's partner in the network's coverage of his gold medal win. The network did not even pan to Mitcham's family cheering him on from the stands, as they have done for virtually every other medalist at the Games.
Check out the complete interview with Mitcham in which he appears with his mother and partner, below. This interview does not appear as part of NBC's Olympic coverage of Mitcham's win in the 10-meter platform event.
