Matthew Mitcham, the legendary Australian diver
Matthew was born on the 2nd of March 1988 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The great diver started his athletic career as a trampoline gymnast. Matthew caught the attention of Wang Tong Xiang, the coach at the Australian Institute of Sports
Diving Program, while both the personalities were at the Chandler Aquatic Centre in the suburbs of Matthew’s hometown Brisbane. While still under the training of Wang Tong, Matthew did not give up trampolining for a couple of years.
Matthew elevated his name at all national and international mega events, both as a diver and a trampolinist. The first event in which he represented Australia was the World Junior Championships 1999, where he won the mini-tramp event. He continued the tradition
in the 2001 edition of the same event. Two years later, he also contended the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, where he was ranked as the sixth gymnast on the trampoline.
On the other hand, Mitcham won all the national junior diving championships from 2002 to 2004. In the World Junior Diving Championships 2002, Matthew concluded the event in the eleventh spot in the 1 metre springboard, fifth in 3 metres and 16th
in the 10 metre platform meets. Two years later, at the same Championships, the diver won silver medals in the 1 metre and 3 metres synchronized events, along with the 10 metres platform event.
The great diver could not qualify for the Australian team that was going to play at the Summer Olympics 2004. In the Olympic Trials, Matthew finished the 2 metres and 10 metres individual events in the 3rd spot, while he grabbed the second position
in the 3 metres and 10 metres synchronized events. The first senior national title was won by Matthew in 2005.
Moving on to the major international events contested by Matthew, he was ranked the 12th athlete in the 10 metres platform event at the World Aquatics Championships 2005 that took place in Montreal. He had a total score of 560.73 points in this
event.
Matthew was placed sixteenth in the 3 metres and sixth in the 10 metres individual events, at the 2006 German Grand Prix event. Meanwhile he was placed eighth in the 3 metre springboard event at the US Grand Prix that took place at Fort Lauderdale. Matthew
qualified for the Commonwealth Games 2006, Australia. He was placed 4th in the 3 metre individual event and 3 metres synchronized event with his compatriot Robertson, while he was placed 5th in the 1 metre and 10 metre individual events.
Soon after the Melbourne Games in 2006, Matthew took a break from the sport only to make a strong comeback in 2007. After his return to the sport, he started training under the renowned coach Chaba Sobrino at the New South Wales Institute of Sports. A year
later, in 2008, Matthew again bagged the gold medals in the 1 metre, 3 metre and 10 metre individual events at the Australian National Championships. He also won the Diving Grand Prix event 2008 that took place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The most significant event for Matthew was the 2008 Summer Olympics. He represented the Australia in the 10 metre platform and the 3 metre springboard events in the Olympics. Unfortunately, he could not make it to the final of the 3 metre springboard event
since he finished 16th in the heats of the event. The significance of the Beijing Olympics for his athletic career is emphasized by the fact that the gold medal that he won in the 10 metres platform event was the second Olympic gold won by an Australian
athlete. After this victory, Matthew’s 50 cent stamp was issued by the Australian Post. In a post event interview, Matthew was quoted as saying, “It is absolutely surreal. I never thought that this would be possible, I was not even sure of my medal chances
at all. After I did my last dive and I saw I was in first, I thought, that’s it, it’s a silver medal, I am so happy with this, and then I won. I can’t believe it, I’m so happy.
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