What’s a gold medal worth? If you’re a straight athlete, apparently quite a bit. If you’re gay, well, not so much. I was reminded of this fact again this week with the news that sponsor magnet and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has tarnished his image, while sponsor pariah and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham has burnished his (to no avail, yet).
As nearly everyone in the universe must know by now, Michael Phelps has this week admitted to acting in a “youthful and inappropriate way” after photos of him engaged in “inappropriate” behavior surfaced in the media. Phelps won eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics and reaped millions of dollars in additional corporate sponsorship after his record-setting performance there.
Also this week, The Advocate put 2008 gold medalist Matthew Mitcham on its cover (again) and published an interview about his life since his dramatic gold medal performance in the Olympics that, all too briefly, electrified the sporting world. As The Advocate reports, Mitcham was then named Australian 2008 Sports Performer of the Year and Australian GQ’s Sportsman of the Year. And his corporate sponsors? Zero.
In The Advocate article, one of Mitcham’s training partners offers this explanation:
“Coming out may not have been very wise of him,” laments fellow diver Alex Croak, a longtime friend who trains with Mitcham. “I’m not an expert in marketing and don’t know what companies look for, but perhaps it [hurt him] as it is a risk for companies to take.”
A risk for companies to take? Wow. He’s likely right, but I find it remarkable that an athlete who performs at the highest standard of excellence but who is gay is somehow “toxic” while an athlete who also performs at the highest standard of excellence but who is straight is showered with attention and funding. We’re seeing the price of that kind of homophobia now with the backlash to Phelps’ admission of his behavior.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the lesson here is that you can admit to illegal drug use, but as long as you’re straight, you’ll be forgiven. Conversely, if you’re named Sportsman of the Year but you’re also openly gay, apparently you’re off limits. I'm not trying to pass judgment on Phelps' behavior (the media is already doing that for us), just trying to make a point about perceptions of our community vs. perceptions of the straight community.
This situation won’t change overnight, but the continued performance of openly gay athletes and the resulting media attention that generates (even if “only” in LGBT media) will continue to chip away at the high wall of hypocrisy that exists in sports (check out Steve's post on Martina Navratilova's partnership with AARP, for example). In the meantime, we can continue to admire those individuals who refuse to compromise and who live their lives openly and with no apology.
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