Matt’s last outing before Beijing

Gay diver Matthew Mitcham will find out next week if his boyfriend Lachlan can accompany him to Beijing on the Johnson and Johnson Athlete Family Support Program.

But even if that doesn’t work out, they’ll find a way to get him there, Mitcham told Sydney Star Observer.

Lachlan’s been the one closest to me these last two years, so of course I want him there, Mitcham said.

Mitcham’s fairytale comeback to competitive diving has placed him in good stead to join the very small ranks of openly gay Olympic athletes -” even he’s shocked by just how few there are. But coming out was never an issue for him at home, or at the pool.

It’s everybody else who’s interested, not me. I don’t think it’s anything special, being gay or being a diver, he said.

I didn’t plan on coming out like that, it just sort of happened. I don’t mind becoming a role model and I’ll try to not disappoint anybody.

Diving is on the artistic end of the sporting spectrum, he said, so he doesn’t feel the kind of role model pressure like the macho sports like rugby.

Aquatic sports do not harbour the large numbers of gay people as the stereotype suggests, he said, but he knows of two other gay guys on the international diving circuit who are yet to come out.

The Olympic team is officially under a media blackout but, because of the intense interest in Mitcham following his public coming out last month, he has taken a morning off from his six-hour daily training to do interviews.

I’m just focusing on diving right now. It’s all about going for gold, he said.

It’s been an ambition of mine for a long time and, while I wouldn’t say it’s mine to lose, I’m in with a good chance.

Mitcham’s already sized up the six international competitors whom he’ll have to beat in Beijing.

Twenty is a good age for a diver, but I’m also looking to the next Games in London because I’ve done some research and 24 seems to be the age when they’re at a peak, he said.

If I make it to the one after that, I’ll be really pushing it.

Mitcham has suffered dozens of injuries to his hands, knees and feet, but it goes with the sport, he said. Not many last till 28.

Newly on the list of gay Australian public figures, Mitcham said he was disappointed by Kevin Rudd’s comments about same-sex marriage, but wasn’t interested in that for himself just yet.

I’m only 20. Maybe in the future, he added.