Remember When.. Matthew Mitcham OAM

The 2018 NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony will celebrate the best of NSW sport, with the induction of five athletes in to the NSW Hall of Champions, and the announcement of the 2018 NSW Sports Awards winners. Counting down to the event, we talk to past NSW Athletes of the Year and NSW Athletes of the Year with a Disability and ask them to share their great joys and triumphs as well as life post their ‘dream year’.

Athlete: Matthew Mitcham OAM
Sport: Diving
Event: 10m platform - 2008 Beijing Olympics
NSW Athlete of the Year: 2008
NSW Hall of Champions: 2017

By Carson Parodi, Media & Content Intern - Sport NSW

It’s not usually our descent that proves to be the most elevating, or our most quiet moments that echo the loudest, but then again, not many of us find ourselves toeing the edge of a diving platform, 10 metres up, at the Olympics.

It is here, in Beijing, in 2008, where Matt Mitcham’s ascension towards greatness is marked by a calculated descent of twists and flips. Yet, it’s not this elegant plummet towards the surface of an Olympic pool, or even the capture of an elusive gold medal, that separates Mitcham from other divers. With a near perfect score of 112.10, Mitcham’s final dive at the 2008 Beijing Olympics is the single best diving score in Olympic history.

“It’s a legacy that has lasted a bit longer than just the gold medal itself,” Mitcham says.

His heroics shocked the world, and pushed Australia to the forefront of a sport that is almost always dominated by the United States and China. His record dive also earned him the 2008 NSW Athlete of the Year award, where he joined the likes of other Australian greats like Alyson Annan, Layne Beachley and NSW Legend, Ian Thorpe.

Yet even after securing a gold medal in record-setting fashion, and winning numerous awards in 2008, Mitcham found himself still ranked 2nd in the world – a snub that urged him back to the 10 metre platform. He continued to improve his scores and top his personal bests and then, in 2010, ultimately rose to the pinnacle of diving when he won gold at the FINA World Cup and became the number one ranked diver on the planet. He thinks back on this year as the most successful of his career.

“I wanted to become the best in the world,” he says. “And so I did.”

It is this relentless pursuit to become the best ever that separates the good athletes from the great ones. It is what ultimately led to Mitcham’s induction into the NSW Hall of Champions in 2017, linking him to the most prominent athletes in the history of New South Wales – the Donald Bradman’s and Ken Roswell’s and Dawn Fraser’s. All of whom are known for accomplishing the exceptional over the span of their entire careers.

Reflecting on his induction into the NSW Hall of Champions, Mitcham now knows that it's not just one event that he will be remembered for.

"It’s like my entire career is significant and my entire career has had an impact on people.”

And it really is these achievements and awards that prove his impact on the outside world, and that help tell his stories of achieving the seemingly impossible. He retired from the sport in 2016, but those years of competitive diving instilled in him a work ethic and restlessness that has translated into his current pursuits in arts.

“I always saw my diving as a performance, really,” he says. “It’s not that much of a leap into other performing arts, but I can use that medium to tell stories and to make an impact on people that way.”

Perhaps he’s telling different stories this time around, ones about sexuality and mental health, and about finding life after sport – stories close to his heart. He has told them in his autobiography and in his Keynote speeches, and is telling them through cabaret and his musical performances.

The view from this new platform may be a bit different now – a little closer to the ground – but the leap towards greatness is just as intentional. And who would really doubt his ability to get there again?

Join us at the announcement of this year's NSW Sports Awards winners, alongside the induction of five icons of NSW sport into the NSW Hall of Champions, at the 2018 NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony.

Tickets to the event are just $175 per individual, or $1,700 for a table of 10.

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Please contact Sport NSW on (02) 8736 1239 or info@sportnsw.com.au for further assistance.
Ticket sales will close 5pm Monday 19 November 2018. Don't miss out!