Mitcham dives into Telstra's big pond

By Toby Longhurst

Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham has finally found a major sponsor to help him in his quest to win back to back gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics. The out and proud athlete has been announced as a new ambassador for Telstra, and will help the telecommunications giant launch products and keep a weekly blog.

Not making a splash may have won him an Olympic Gold Medal, but unfortunately, until now Mitcham had not made a splash in the corporate pool either, missing out on key sponsorships. Numerous social commentators have widely speculated that Mitcham's open homosexuality may have been a contributing factor to his lack of endorsement opportunities, but the man himself simply puts it down to the current economic crisis.

Mitcham told Sydney's Daily Telegraph, “I was a little bit worried… so hopefully this will be a snowball effect, but I don't want to count my chickens,” he said. “If I can get the opportunity where I would be able to train without having to worry about paying the bills, that would be the ultimate goal.”

Neither Mitcham nor Telstra wished to reveal how much money was being provided by the year long sponsorship, but Mitcham described the help as “significant”.