Matthew Mitcham has done what no Australian athlete has done; he has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media.
Those who adore him could be watching Mitcham win gold after his performance just over a week ago in Fort Lauderdale. Mitcham stood 10 meters high with the fierce wind whistling in his ears and battling trying conditions. "When I was whizzing around, the sky is the same color as the water. I was freaking out. It was the first time I had dived outside since I left the sport."
His performance was astonishing. Mitcham beat two top Chinese divers who will challenge him for gold. When he saw his four perfect 10s he whooped and leaped on the pool deck. Finally, the man who had battled anxiety and depression as a teenager, taking medication and seeing psychologists, had arrived on the world stage. And it proved the time he spent away from the sport last year had been worth it.
Mitcham thinks he would not be going to the Olympics if not for the hardship he endured.
"I probably wouldn't have as much of a fighting spirit," he said.
"The more you have experienced, the more you have to draw off. I look at the last 20 years as a long, winding path of lessons and some hardship. I hope the rest of my life isn't straight because that could be boring.
"I hope it continues to wind, but maybe not so tumultuous. I hope I do have a long and winding path and more lessons to learn. I look forward to that."
