Matthew Mitcham OAM

Matthew Mitcham stood on the platform in the final of 10m platform diving competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With one dive to go he was in the silver medal position. Needing a near-perfect 107.30 points to win, it was all or nothing. 

He chose a back two and a half somersault with two and a half twists and an outrageous 3.8 degree of difficulty. Hard to say and even harder to execute. But he nailed it, earning a perfect score from four of seven judges, a total of 112.10 points and Australia's first diving gold medal since 1924. 

It was the highest individual score in Olympic history at the time and still ranks second best of all time. And it earned him 'The Don Award', presented annually by Sport Australia Hall of Fame to the athlete or team who has most inspired the nation.

It was the golden moment in a career which began in trampoline gymnastics. A junior world champion, he was recruited by the AIS diving program and within 12 months was a national junior champion. Then a senior champion before two fourths and a fifth at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, three national titles in 2008. And after Beijing four Commonwealth silver medals in Delhi in 2010 and a gold and two silvers in Glasgow in 2014. 

Now living in London, he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2020, and tonight he becomes the first diver in the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.