June 4, 2019
Matthew Mitcham Set to Dive into Marriage
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Openly gay Australian diving champ and Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham announced on social media that his boyfriend of six months, Luke Rutherford, has proposed marriage – and Mitcham has accepted.
"He got down on both knees, I said yes, and now we're engaged," Mitcham posted on Instagram.
Mitcham also posted the news to his Twitter account.
Eleven years ago, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, any mention of Mitcham's personal life was excluded from NBC's coverage – despite the network delving into the relationships of a number of heterosexual athletes, and even though Mitcham's then-partner was in attendance. Mitcham dazzled at the Olympics that year by snatching a gold medal, becoming the first openly gay Olympian to achieve that honor.
Since that infamous snub, however, Mitcham has practically become a household name, going on to subsequent athletic achievements and cementing his celebrity status by penning an autobiography, appearing in a cabaret show based on his own memoirs, and appearing on the fifteenth season on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2015. Now retired from athletics, Mitcham focuses on entertainment, and describes himself as a "presenter," a "motivator," and a "laugh-inducer" at his Instagram account.
He got down on both knees, I said yes, and now we're engaged. @ Henley on Thames https://t.co/AlfrUkZi9o– Matthew Mitcham (@matthew_mitcham) June 2, 2019
Despite his high profile, though, Rutherford did not know about Mitcham's history-making Olympic victory when they first met through mutual friends, UK newspaper the Daily Mail reported in its coverage of the athlete's upcoming nuptials.
Mitcham left Australia for Britain to remain with Rutherford when the latter's visa was set to expire, the Daily Mail reported.
Other than marriage, career figures large in Mitcham's plans for the future.
"I'm going to spread my fabulous Australianness all over the entertainment industry, much like Kylie, Hugh Jackman and Dame Edna have done before me," the iconic athlete told the media.
