Did coming out tarnish Matthew Mitcham's gold in the eyes of sponsors?

Now that the dust has settled on Matthew Mitcham's historic Olympic diving victory, the fact of his lack of sponsorship deals has become glaringly obvious.

He recently gave an interview in which he discusses how much he's appreciated the attention he's received (especially from the gay press), but when it comes to endorsements, he's been left high and dry:

"Yeah, I haven't got anything yet," he says as the smile slides from his face for the first time during the interview. "I'm working on stuff, and looking for stuff but, no, I haven't got anything yet."

"It has surprised and disappointed me, I guess, because I have seen how successful some other athletes are after winning Olympic medals. I hope it will all come."

Don't you just want to hug him? As to whether he believes it has to do with his coming out, he's ... unsure:

"As I said, nothing negative has come of the coming-out experience, which is a really good thing - it's what I would have hoped for, but one can't help but think I might not have sponsorship yet because I came out before the Olympics," Mitcham says.

But Mitcham does not want favours because he is gay. He wants simply to be like other Olympic gold medallists. And it doesn't take long for the optimism to return: "It might not be true. I'd like to hope that's not the case, and I put it to the businesses and companies of Australia to prove that thinking and mindset wrong and challenge that, because it's just too, too easy to think that's the way it is."

Okay, now don't you just really want to hug him? Hopefully, Matthew will find a sponsor in time to raise the money he needs for a return trip to the Olympics, and he'll certainly have our support!