Is Matthew Micham being treated fairly by his fellow Australians and Corporate Australia?
Australian Olympic golden girl Stephanie Rice (after lip locking with American Michael Phelps at the Olympic Village) is fast filling her bank account, having graced the cover of three Aussi magazines, appearing in an OZ reality TV show and topping it off with a turn on the Sydney cocktail circuit.
But where, oh where is the other great Australian star of Beijing, Matthew Mitcham?
A local television channel inked a deal with Rice is worth $700,000 alone. While some would argue that Rice is overexposed, corporate demand for Mitcham has not caught up with his enormous popularity and is in danger of flattening out for the diver. Wonder why? I repeat Matthew Mitcham in enormously popular!
Just like Rice, Mitcham looks like a sponsor's dream: an Olympic gold medal, undeniably articulate and good looking. So what can be the difference?
Oh yes, he's openly gay and proudly introduced his boyfriend along with his Mom after his gold medal fantasticness. Indeed he was reportedly the only gay in the (Olympic) village.
Rice's manager Chris White wishfully argued sexuality would not hold Mitcham's earnings potential back. "It's about consistency of performance and personality. Swimming is a sport with huge interest in Australia and sponsors are attracted to it." Right! More likely Australia is a microcosm of macho homophobia. Even though most macho Australian blockheads don’t have the athleticism that Matthew Mitcham has in his little finger, they couldn’t stomach buying a car that he pitched. It’s just so sad.
Unlike Rice, there have been no mega-buck deals signed with Mitcham, who has already turned down a rumoured $30,000 tell-all offer from Woman's Day.
Ian Thorpe made millions in sponsorship but spent years avoiding the much-conjectured subject of his sexuality. Mitcham publicly outed himself long before Beijing. As a result some marketers say Mitcham's face may never grace a box of children's breakfast cereal as Thorpe's did and as Michael Phelps has done.
Matthew Mitcham is on holiday in France with his yum yum partner Lachlan Fletcher, and is due back in Sydney in October. Friends say he finds the focus on his sexuality "tediously predictable". Hmm, slight chance Matthew Mitcham is not helping his sponsorship cause by being on holiday in France but I digress….
Last week US broadcaster NBC apologised amid claims of homophobia after failing to comment on Mitcham's boyfriend, as it did for partners of heterosexual competitors. NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel said "we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story".
Mitcham's mother Vivien previously told an Australian newspaper that her son deliberated about publicly coming out: "He was worried about that factor of sponsorship … But I think everybody has caught up now." The poor, naïve and optimistic Mom. Thinking that your super star son could be treated unfairly is too much for any mother to fathom.
Mitcham's mother Vivien previously told an Australian newspaper that her son deliberated about publicly coming out: "He was worried about that factor of sponsorship … But I think everybody has caught up now." The poor, naïve and optimistic Mom. Thinking that your super star son could be treated unfairly is too much for any mother to fathom.
All I can say is that Australia is blowing a big chance to demonstrate that they are more than a maturing penal colony. Matthew Mitcham is a hero on so many levels and deserves to be treated as a hero.
