Gay diver Matthew Mitcham came just shy of going through into the Olympic final on the 10m diving platform today (11 August).

The Australian, who won gold in Beijing four years ago, could be seen in tears after realizing he had faltered his final dive in the semi-finals.

With only 12 places up for grabs, Mitcham came 13th with 482.40 points.

Instead Chinese world champion Qiu Bo came top once again, with British favorite Tom Daley coming fourth with 521.1 points.

Mitcham had to lower the difficulty of some of his dives after ripping a stomach muscle four years ago, forcing him to take a nine month break.

The British and Australian divers became trending topics on Twitter, and users were quickly sharing their sympathy for the much adored Mitcham.

@macleanbrendan said: ‘Dear @Matthew_Mitcham, today I slipped over stepping into the bathtub. You are spectacular.’

@mrbenjaminlaw said: ‘Nation-wide group hug for @matthew_mitcham. Still a goddamned hero.’

Out of over 11,000 athletes competing in the London Olympic Games, Mitcham was one of only three gay male competitors taking part.

Sharing a great love for his fans, he entertained them at the Olympic park by riding an emu, and singing on the ukulele – twice.

The 12 successful divers will be competing in the diving final tonight (11 August).

UPDATE: Mitcham has tweeted to his fans after the semi-final, joking he wants to start training for Rio 2016 now.

He said: 'Ah nuts, missed the finals by #theskinofabeespenis. But I could not have done more. And I'll always be a Lympic Chamion =) thx 4 ur support!'