Matthew Mitcham, openly gay Olympic diver, to release autobiography

Australian Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham has announced he will release an autobiography in December titled "Twists and Turns."

From GayNewsNetwork:

To be released by HarperCollins in December, Mitcham’s book will also take a closer look at the anxiety and “crippling self doubt” that he has battled as a teenager and young adult, which at one point forced him to give up diving and head to the local circus so he could earn an income.

“People kept remarking on how they were surprised that a gold medal and fame hadn’t changed me,” Mitcham writes in a blurb for the book.

“I always responded, ‘Why would I change? Being me is the easiest person to be’. I was lying. It wasn’t.”...

...Twists and Turns also sees the 24-year-old Brisbane-born sports star discussing his effort at this year’s London Olympics where he failed to defend his crown after missing out on qualifying for the final. With an abdominal injury affecting his preparation for the London Games, Mitcham writes that his self-doubt and depressive tendencies returned with a vengeance.

Graeme Aitken, from the Bookshop Darlinghurst, expects the new release to do well. “Probably the only book I could compare Matthew Mitcham’s book to is the Ian Roberts biography by Paul Freeman – given that they are both high profile Australian gay sportsmen who have come out as gay. The Ian Roberts book was a phenomenal bestseller for us and is one of our top 3 bestsellers in our 30 year history,” Aitken said.

“But I would expect Matthew’s book to actually surpass sales of Ian Roberts’ book, as he has such a massive following on social media, especially on Twitter, but also an enormous international fan base.”