It all started last May, with Matthew Mitcham casually answering a journalist of The Sydney Morning Herald who asked him who he was living with. “My partner Lachlan,” he replied. The Olympic hopeful Australian diver immediately made it to the front page of the Herald and the information was promptly relayed all over the world. Even The Independent and The Guardian echoed the news in the UK.

He recently spoke to Australian gay & lesbian magazine SX News, while training at the Sydney Aquatic Centre in Homebush — he will compete in Beijing in the ten-meter platform and three-meter springboard events. Notable quotes include his mother reacting with a strangely dismissive “Well, duh!” when he told her he was gay, at age fourteen. And about being a gay role-model: “Being in my position, it’s inevitable. There’s not really much choice. If someone looks up to you, then you’re a role model. And I’m happy with that. I just hope I do a good job – I’m not perfect!”

Not perfect? We watched the pictures closely enough and could not find the tiniest flaw. Dear constant reader, could you?

Matthew already won gold at the 2008 Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. If everything goes well, he could become the second openly gay diver (Greg Louganis was first) with an Olympic gold medal on his oh-so-smooth chest.

Source: SX News