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| Matthew Mitcham (Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images) |
Matthew Mitcham made history in 2008 when NBC Olympics President
Gary Zenkel issued an apology for the
network's edited coverage of Matthew's gold medal win. In a nail-biting upset that few predicted possible, the then-20-year-old Mr. Mitcham
proudly took home a gold medal in the 10-meter platform event at the Beijing
Olympics, beating out the Chinese favorites. But unlike other gold medal winners, who typically are also awarded an up-close television depiction of their personal life leading up to their victory, it appeared that the network had a problem with equating "competitive athletic hero to be respected and admired for his achievement" and "gay man."
"We
regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story,"
Zenkel said in a statement.
"We apologize for this unintentional
omission." The statement only came after NBC Sports spokesman
Greg
Hughes defended the network's decision not to mention that Mitcham is gay and happily in love with his life partner. As an elated Matt ran into the stands after his big win to
give his partner,
Lachlan Fletcher, a kiss, NBC's cameras quickly cut
away. Despite intensive coverage of other gold medalist's personal
lives during the Games, NBC failed to mention that Mitcham was gay, or show
footage of the diver's partner cheering him on and congratulating him
after the win.
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| Matt and Lachlan |
Good luck in London, Matthew!
VGMH hopes you win another gold.
Outsports has listed 21 openly gay and lesbians Olympic athletes for the 2012 Summer Games:
Marilyn Agliotti (Netherlands, field hockey); Judith Arndt (Germany,
cycling); Seimone Augustus (U.S., basketball); Natalie Cook (Australia,
beach volleyball); Lisa Dahlkvist (Sweden, soccer); Carlien Dirkse van
den Heuvel (Netherlands, field hockey); Imke Duplitzer (Germany,
fencing); Edward Gal (Netherlands, equestrian); Jessica Harrison
(France, triathlon); Carl Hester (Britain, equestrian); Alexandra
Lacrabère (France, handball); Jessica Landström (Sweden, soccer); Hedvig
Lindahl (Sweden, soccer);
Matthew Mitcham (Australia,
diving); Maartje Paumen (Netherlands, field hockey); Carole Péon
(France, triathlon); Mayssa Pessoa (Brazil, handball); Megan Rapinoe
(U.S. soccer); Lisa Raymond (U.S., doubles tennis); Rikke Skov (Denmark,
handball); and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Germany, cycling).