Girls Dig Sports

Should NBC Have Mentioned That Olympic Diver Matthew Mitcham Was Gay?

by Lyndsey D'Arcangelo on August 27th, 2008

This week’s installment of For Argument’s Sake is the last time I’m going to discuss the Olympics. It’s been about three weeks of Olympics this and Olympics that and I’m ready for something new … football, perhaps?

Anyway, NBC is getting some flack for failing to mention that diver Matthew Mitcham, an Australian gold medal winner in the Beijing Olympics, was gay. Now, there are other gay and lesbian athletes who competed at the Olympics. The only difference is that Mitcham is out to the public. He came out about six months ago and was the only out gay male athlete competing at the games. That’s a pretty big deal, I would think. But NBC didn’t mention a thing about it.

Mitcham’s mother and significant other were in the stands to support him, a trip that was fully funded by Johnson & Johnson (props to them for that!). Mitcham posted the highest score ever given to a single dive during Olympic competition.

But alas, Mitcham wasn’t featured in any side story and his medal ceremony was only posted on line. (I guess it should be noted here that after receiving his medal, Mitcham climbed into the stands and gave his mother and significant other a well-deserved hug. That, too, was not shown on air).

The NBC administration said this, “It’s not possible to cover the entire personal story of every athlete regarding their performance. … It’s just not possible to single out coverage.”

So what I want to know is this: Should NBC have mentioned that Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham was gay?

(Don’t forget to cast your vote in the poll!)

My argument is this:

As a gay individual myself, I think that having an out gay athlete at the Olympics is important, but it’s not the reason why Mitcham was there. He was there to compete. He was there to win a gold medal. He wasn’t there to be an advocate.

I think that his come behind win deserved a bit more attention and, yes, his medal ceremony should have been showed. It would have been nice to see him rush into the stands to hug his mother and his significant other, have the NBC commentator say, “that’s so and so” and then that was it. A nice moment captured on television — nothing more, nothing less. It would have been nice if it was just a non issue. Because, really, that’s what it should be. Mitcham shouldn’t have been given any special treatment because he is gay or any less special treatment because he is gay. It should have been mentioned as an aside, but not focused on.

I think NBC should have at least commented on the fact that Johnson & Johnson stepped up and financed his mother and his partner’s trip to Bejing. And that’s it. Is that so hard? Would that have really been such a big deal? It would have recognized the significance without making it a gay issue or supposedly offending anyone either.

That’s my take. If you choose to leave a comment below, please be respectful.

The results of the Alicia Sacramone poll are in! The question was: Was Alicia Sacramone robbed by the judges? An overwhelming majority of you think that, yes, she was totally robbed and should have won the bronze medal.

For previous editions of For Argument’s Sake, go here.

Photo provided by Newscom

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