Only publicly gay man at Olympics wins gold medal

The only publicly gay man participating in the Beijing Olympics won a gold medal in 10-meter platform diving. In so doing, Matthew Mitcham of Australia recorded the highest- scoring dive in Olympic history.

"I think it's something to beat next time," Mitcham, 20, told the Sydney Morning Herald afterward. "Everything, absolutely everything, has been for this. I knew it was a far chance but I did everything, absolutely everything I could, to give myself the best chance of doing it. It's actually happened. I never thought it would." Mitcham's partner, Lachlan Fletcher, attended the Olympics on a grant from Johnson & Johnson's Athlete Family Support Program.

"Coming out publicly, that was a first," said Mitcham's mother, Vivien. "The highest score awarded to an Olympic dive ever, another first. How many more firsts can this child get?" Mitcham came out in a May interview with the Herald.

Of the 10,500 athletes who competed in the Olympics, only 10 were publicly gay, according to Outsports.com. The other nine were lesbians: Judith Arndt (Germany, cycling), Imke Duplitzer (Germany, fencing), couple Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg (Norway, handball), Natasha Kai (U.S., soccer), Lauren Lappin (U.S., softball), Victoria "Vickan" Svensson (Sweden, soccer), Rennae Stubbs (Australia, tennis) and Linda Bresonik (Germany, soccer).

Outsports also took note of openly bisexual U.S. softball player Vicky Galindo. Hammerseng, Nyberg and Kai also took home gold medals. Lappin and Galindo won silver medals and Bresonik snagged a bronze.