Out Olympic diver Matthew Micham will be back to defend his 10-meter platform gold metal in London this summer. The Australian diver scored a perfect 10 from all seven judges during the Australian diving trials in early April.
The 24-year-old's future was questionable after shredding a stomach muscle in 2011.
“It looks like everything I’m doing is starting to work and fall into place,” he said. “All my technique is starting to sharpen up a bit and I’m starting to dive like the old me again.”
Mitcham scored 1514 in winning the 10m final and believes he can dive “heaps better” – eyeing a new personal best around 1570 to win gold in London. He won the gold medal at Beijing in the 10-meter platform, upsetting the heavily favored Chinese, and became an instant celebrity for being an openly gay athlete.
He acknowledged his long-time boyfriend in several interviews and caught the eye of diving fans around the world.
Mitcham hopes his competitors took notice of his recent showing, saying he was embracing the challenge of his status as defending Olympic champion.
“It is something that has been sitting in the back of my mind for quite some time”this pressure of expectation,” he said. “But rather than let it bog me down, I have been doing a lot of sports psychology around it, just to make sure that I am able to compete and dive unaffected by that pressure.”
Mitcham’s perfect-10 dive on April 4 was a backward 3.5 somersault”a dive he only lately threw into his routine.
“It’s not even part of my list officially. It was just a substitute dive,” he said. “It doesn’t feel perfect to me yet but the judges obviously liked it.”
