Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham got married, but some family didn’t attend—guess why?

Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham is off the market, boys. The Australian diver married his partner on Feb. 25, in a lovely wedding ceremony that was held at a castle in Ciney, Belgium.

Technically they got married in England earlier in the month, but the proper ceremony was at the historic Chateau de Halloy,  where they shared the beautiful event with family and friends.

Mitcham posted photos of the ceremony on his Instagram (scroll through the pics):

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Matt(hew) Mitcham (@matthewmitcham88) on

Sadly, Mitcham’s uncle could not attend the ceremony in Belgium, because he was a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship during the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and was still in quarantine.

According to various gossip web sites, Mitcham met his beau, a Brit named Luke Rutherford, in 2018 when Rutherford was visiting Australia. When Rutherford’s visa expired, Mitcham moved to Rutherford’s home in Oxfordshire, near London, to continue their relationship. Mitcham currently works as a cabaret performer, which means he can live wherever there are stages and audiences to entertain with his ukulele.

Mitcham has quite the impressive legacy: he holds the record for earning the highest score for a dive in Olympic history, when he won gold in 10 Meter Platform Diving at the 2008 Olympic Games, in Beijing, China. That also made him the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, in any sport. A video of the dive is on Facebook here.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Mitcham will be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 25, 2020, at the ISHOF museum in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

As a fun extra bit of info: Mitcham was a contestant on Australia’s Dancing With The Stars in 2015, and he was terrific, as would be expected of an Olympian who can twist and turn like that while diving off of a platform 10 feet up in the air. He made it to the final round, but ended the show with second place. 

Don't forget to share:

Your support makes our travel guides possible

We believe that LGBTQ+ people deserve safe vacations that allow them to be their authentic selves. That's why our City Guides aren't locked behind a paywall. Can you contribute today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated