Australian photographer John McRae just released new pictures of Beijing Olympics diving gold medallist Matthew Mitcham (above). The Australian sporting public voted him 2008 ‘Sports Performer of the Year’, ahead of pole vaulter Steve Hooker and swimmer Stephanie Rice.

As the first Australian to openly declare his homosexuality before competing at the Olympics, Mitcham is seen as a trailblazer for the gay community, down under and beyond. All these honors didn’t get to his head however, and the interview he gave to SX last month — soon reprinted by Blaze — is here to prove it. “I do get recognised a bit,” he tells SX. “It’s nice and humbling, but it still takes me by surprise.” As to how he avoided getting a big head: “Well, I don’t know. It’s not for me to say. All I know is that I don’t ever wanna be a different person than I was. Apart from what just comes naturally with growing up and getting older and wiser.”

Matthew also talks about his life partner Lachlan Fletcher, who apparently does his best to avoid all the attention: “He’s still shy, he hasn’t done any media, really. He’s just taking it in his stride as well, with me doing my training, and having to go away to all these functions and events. He’s just helping me along, which I’m extremely grateful for.”

And about the NBC controversy — other networks ran interviews and profiles of Matthew after his win but NBC didn’t — he sounds totally unfazed. “I did get sent links about it, so I found out about it, but in all honesty it wasn’t really my fight, and I wasn’t offended. It was other people that were making complaints and who were really into it,” he explains. “I don’t know whether or not NBC did it on purpose. I don’t really care. I’m pretty thick-skinned.”

Thick-skinned indeed, but still the fairest of them all.

The full interview on SX
John McRae
Blaze