Matthew Mitcham Grabs Top Sporting Award

Matthew Mitcham captured an Olympic gold medal with his breathtaking final dive last August at Beijing's Water Cube. He's now adding another award to his list. 

After voting concluded, the readers of The Age  and  The Sydney Morning Herald said Mitcham's gold winning performance was Australia's best sporting achievement of the year.   

In addition to capturing gold, he has captured the hearts of men and women around the world.  He's talented, very good looking and extremely personable.  So the question a lot of people are asking is why hasn't he gotten a single sponsor? 

"It's not a sport thats flush with huge dollars," said David Lyall, from Grand Slam International, Mitcham's management group. "A lot of the general public seem to think you win a gold medal and people are knocking down the door to sponsor you."

What do you think? Is today's economy so tough that potentianl sponsors are simply tightening their belts or are they scared of having an openly gay athlete as their front man?  Or do you have another idea? 

Comments

[Joe Moag]

Could be some of each. By that I mean companies that might be inclined to "risk" (risk, in their minds) using a gay athelete as an endorser may feel less inclined to do so in this economy. After all, Ford (or was it GM?) just dumped Tiger Woods as its endorsement athlete.