I'm not sure how many of you saw the men's 10m diving finals the other night, but it was pretty awesome. Chinese diver Zhou Luxin held what appeared to be an insurmountable lead even after botching his final dive.

It didn't look good for Australian Matthew Mitcham, who essentially needed to be perfect on his final dive to win gold. But Mitcham was, burying an incredibly difficult dive that left hardly a ripple on the water as he dove in.

It was, without question, one of the most clutch moments by any athlete you will ever see, anywhere.

But what also made the night unique is that Mitcham is the only openly gay male athlete in the Olympics. And despite NBC continually showing shots of Mitcham's Australian cheering section, which included Mitcham's partner, NBC never said a word about it.

Normally, I don't have a problem with that. There's not really any need to show an athlete's significant other during Olympic events, whether the athlete is gay, straight, or whatever.

But the problem is that NBC continually made a point to show many athletes' significant others during the Olympics, and mention what kind of a relationship they were in.

We heard about Misty May-Treanor being married to Marlins catcher Matt Treanor. We also heard about track athlete Sanya Richards' fiancee, Aaron Ross of the New York Giants. We heard about a love triangle between French and Italian swimmers and about Kerri Walsh losing her wedding ring in the sand during a match. And we even heard about non-spotlight athletes and their relationships. Katerina Emmons of the Czech Republic won the first Olympic gold of the Games in the women's 10m air rifle and was shown hugging and kissing her American husband who is her coach and a member of the U.S. Men's shooting team.

My point is this. NBC went out of its way to let us know about the relationships - even showing us kisses - of a number of bigtime and smalltime athletes. But all the athletes were significant in some way.

So was Mitcham. He prevented the Chinese from sweeping gold in diving. His story is truly one of the best of the Games.

But it was also important that we knew he was gay. That's because it is incredibly rare for any athlete to come out even after their playing days are over. And when an athlete is openly gay while competing, it not only deserves attention, it deserves celebration.

The reason why is because the sports world is, for the most part, an incredibly macho arena. And many people, including both athletes and fans, have the mistaken belief that you can't be gay and be an athlete. Letting viewers know that Mitcham is gay would've, in my mind, helped more people - athletes and fans - realize that any individual, regardless of their sexual orientation, can be a great competitor and an Olympic champion.

I know not everyone would have been pleased to hear about Mitcham's sexual orientation, and some would have argued that it would have been an invasion of his privacy to inform us of that information. But just think about this for a moment. Would the people that likely would have had those misgivings in hearing about Mitcham's sexual orientation have had the same reaction had Mitcham been straight? 

My guess is not at all.

NBC missed a chance last night to help break down barriers that desperately need to come down. And for that, they should be admonished.

As for Mitcham, hopefully his Olympic triumph can help us all - fans and athletes - become more tolerant of people of all sexual orientations in professional sports and in life.