UPDATE: Did Golden Boy Matthew Mitcham Refuse aussieBum’s Thousands??
UPDATE 2/15: Did Matthew turn down a six-figure offer from aussieBum right after Beijing? Read about it at the end of the jump!
Right after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, we ran a feature about NBC’s shittiness for not mentioning Australian diver, Matthew Mitcham’s gayness even though his boyfriend was in the stands. The NBC Olympics President offered a half-assed apology about it being an “unintentional omission.” It made us want to make an unintentional emission in his eyes.
Now, while frat-bait Michael Phelps apologizes for taking massive bong rips and gets chased by the Keystone Cops, our boy Mitcham continues to please. The photos come from his second appearance in The Advocate which concludes that the gold medalist hasn’t gotten any big sponsorships because of his lovemaking with the men folk.
Luckily, our boy is no quitter. “I don’t want to be just a one-minute wonder,” he told The Advocate. “I do want to continue being the best, so that when [people] think back, there will be no doubt in their minds that Matthew Mitcham was the best diver of his time.” That’s awesome. We’re behind you, Matt! Just keep taking sexy photos afterwards and we’re with you all the way!
If you dig these super sexy photos, check out a behind the scenes video for more Mitcham magic. Also see FH Out Front’s What’s A Gold Medal Worth?. And if you missed it the first time, see Mitcham’s gold-winning dives after the jump!
Take that, you perfectly stunning Chinese Olympic medalist divers!
UPDATE 2/8: Finally, a sponsorship deal for the Golden Boy! Telstra, Australia’s largest phone company just signed Mitcham to a one-year deal, his first corporate sponsorship since the Olympics. His contract includes keeping a weekly blog to help launch products and making personal appearances.
Though we don’t know how much green he’ll make from the deal, it’ll undoubtedly help get him to the 2012 London summer games! Of the sponsorship, Mitcham himself said, “I was a little bit worried… so hopefully this will be a snowball effect, but I don’t want to count my chickens. If I can get the opportunity where I would be able to train without having to worry about paying the bills, that would be the ultimate goal.”
Thanks to Outsports for the tip!
UPDATE (2/15): Did aussieBum offer Mitcham six-figures right after Beijing? What of his publicized lack of corporate sponsorships ever since? Read on..
Outblog recently posted a comprehensive article about Matt Mitcham’s lack of corporate sponsorships after the Olympic games. Some cried “homophobia” while others said, “bad economy.” Then, SameSame.au revealed that aussieBum had supposedly offered Mitcham a six-figure deal just after the Olympics. An unnamed aussieBum spokesperson told the blog:
The bottom line is AussieBum was very supportive of Matt’s trip to the Olympics. Sean [Ashby, AussieBum founder] sat him down and offered him a job. We want him to be a part of the company, to go out to the marketplace. We wanted to give him a career. It was a really fantastic opportunity as the face of the company, but they [his management] came back and said they could offer us only a few hours a week. We thought they misunderstood us, but from there we didn’t hear back from them. To say that Matt Mitcham has had no offers is wrong.
The article has since been removed from the SameSame site. What we wanna know is, is the offer still open? And if so, will Mitcham act it? Why didn’t he initially?
Check out Outsports to read the entire article. A big thanks!
