Matthew Mitcham

Matthew Mitcham OAM (b. 1988) won the gold medal in the 10m platform diving event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Originally a trampolinist, he competed at the World Junior Championships in 1999 and 2001 and won the double mini event. Spotted by Australian Institute of Sport diving coach Wang Tong Xiang, he began diving training while continuing to jump. In 2005 he placed twelfth in the 10m event at the World Aquatics Championships in Montreal. With his results on the up and up, in 2007 he took a break before switching to coach Chava Sobrino and returning to train at the New South Wales Institute of Sport. In 2008 he won the 1m, 3m and 10m individual events at the Australian National Championships and the Diving Grand Prix in Florida. In Beijing he fared poorly in the 3m springboard event, and entered the final round of the 10m in second place, 34 points behind. However, his final dive earned the highest single-dive score in Olympic history and he became the first Australian male to win an Olympic gold medal in diving since 1924.