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Diver Domonic Bedggood's Name Is So Tricky He Misspells It Himself

There are two G's in Bedggood. Ggot that? Ggood.
He's hoping to domonate in Rio. Yes, we spelled that wrong on purpose.
Getty Images
He's hoping to domonate in Rio. Yes, we spelled that wrong on purpose.

We won't call Domonic Bedggood the new Matthew Mitcham. He's much harder to spell than that.

Bedggood's given name and surname are both so tricky to spell, the Gold Coast diver has even been known to get them wrong himself. Oops.

But Bedggood might just be the next Mitcham in terms of diving ability. The 21-year-old was officially selected for the Rio Olympics this week. Whether he emulates Mitcham's 10m platform heroics from Beijing remains to be seen. But in a sense, Bedgood has done well just to get this far.

Bedggood broke his back six years ago when he was a gymnast. Here's the video. It'll hurt to watch almost as much as it hurt the athlete himself. Don't say we didn't warn you. Eek!

The Huffington Post Australia spoke to Domonic this week. We think you'll love him as much as we did.

Ant: Hi Domonic, we start by asking everyone this because it's better than small talk. Who would win a fight between a kangaroo and an emu?

Domonic: Is it a no rules fight?

Ant: There are never any rules when kangaroos and emus fight.

Domonic: OK, well I'm going to say a kangaroo. Have you ever seen a video of two kangaroos going at it? I reckon they'd win. Emus are pretty tough, they know how to put up a fight, but those legs of the kangaroo, that kicking power. Phenomenal. Can't get past the kicking power.

Ant: You probably have the most misspelled name in Australian sport.

Domonic: Yeah, seriously, I mean I myself misspell it from time to time.

Ant: You do not.

Domonic: No I do, that's how tricky it is. Another weird thing that happens is people spell it right but then they'll say it wrong.

The day I get up there and I'm not fearful, I'll be more fearful.

Ant: OK let me see if i can get it right. D-O-M-O-N-I-C B-E-D-G-G-O-O-D.

Domonic: Boom. That's money. I don't think I've ever met a reporter that's said or spelled my name right.

Ant: I'm cheating, that's why. So let me ask you some diving questions. First one is a thing I've always wanted to ask a diver. Do you feel fear when you stand at the edge of the platform?

Domonic: Oh absolutely. I mean have you ever stood on the edge of a ten metre platform?

Ant: Yeah I have. It's terrifying.

Domonic: You know, being that high up, especially when you know your dive is extremely difficult and it can go south very quickly, there's definitely fear in the back of your mind. I have a had a few mishaps from time to time. There was one incident where I misjudged a dive and I was in hospital for the night with burst blood vessels in my lungs. I landed flat on my back, mummy style.

Ant: Ow.

Domonic: Yeah, so there's definitely fear there.

Ant: OK, but it's not always a negative, is it? Fear can be a positive thing, right?

Domonic: Absolutely. The day I get up there and I'm not fearful, I'll be more fearful.

Sucking your thumb on the way down is an excellent way of dealing with fear.
ITAR-TASS Photo Agency / Alamy
Sucking your thumb on the way down is an excellent way of dealing with fear.

Ant: I love that line.

Domonic: Yeah it definitely helps once fear and adrenaline kicks in. It makes my mind as sharp as a tool.

Ant: You won the synchro 10m platform gold medal alongside Matthew Mitcham at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. So here's a really simplistic logic jump. Does that mean you're as good as him? 'Cos isn't synchro diving all about doing the same dives in unison?

Domonic: I love the logic, the logic's great. But if I could come close diving as well as him, it'd be a dream come true.

Ant: But you can. The judges said so.

Domonic: It looks like that from afar, but believe me, there's a lot of effort went into that. We definitely have very similar techniques, and very similar lines. There's was a little bit of luck on that day. I was very immature in my diving career at that point and didn't expect at all to come away with a gold medal.

Ant: Obviously the Olympics is a step up from the Commonwealth Games. There's a little country called China with quite a diving pedigree.

Domonic: Yeah, they don't worry me. It's only China.

Ant: It's only China??? They don't worry you???

Domonic: Of course they do!

Ant: Ha! But even with China and other nations, does your best performance get you a medal in Rio? I know you won a bronze in synchro at the last world championships in 2015.

Domonic: I think on the day any one of the top 12 could potentially be in the medals. Olympic history goes to show that the underdogs can come out on top, so you just go there with the mindset of throw six dives together as best you can. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, you've given it your all.

Even their expressions were in unison after Melissa Wu and Domonic won bronze in the 10m platform mixed synchronised event at the 2015 FINA World Championships.
ITAR-TASS Photo Agency / Alamy
Even their expressions were in unison after Melissa Wu and Domonic won bronze in the 10m platform mixed synchronised event at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Ant: What do you do when you're not diving?

Domonic: Train. And when I'm not training, I've got like two hours for myself for the whole week. We go from 6 to 8:30 in the morning and then I have university through the day.

Ant: What are you studying?

Domonic: Sport development at Griffith Uni. I'll probably defer next semester just to focus on the Games.

Ant: PROBABLY???

Domonic: Well, definitely. I mean it is the Olympic Games. But I say "probably" to my lecturers so they have some glimpse of hope that I'll come back and I'll look like a dedicated student. But studying is actually a really good escape from the pressures and stresses of diving. It's good to step away and put your mind to something else.

Ant: How do you relax away from diving and study?

Domonic: Well I'm a Gold Coast boy so I love going to the beach, going for a surf. I used to skate quite a bit but my coaches banned that. Pretty sure my coaches stole it. I'm like 80 percent sure they stole it. I skated to training one day, put it against the wall, walked out and it was gone.

Ant: There are a lot of people in the world who would steal a skateboard.

Domonic: I've got no hard evidence it was my coaches but I still think it was them.

Ant: I'm not buying this story. Anyway if your coaches did steal it, they did the right thing because it's a pretty good way to injure yourself. Do you have no alternative mode of transport?

Domonic: Yeah, often I just walk or ride my bike to training.

Mitcham and Bedggood leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Getty Images
Mitcham and Bedggood leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Ant: And as I understand it, you're quite fortunate to be on your feet at all. Tell me about the time you broke your back in 2011 when you were still a gymnast.

Domonic: It was on the high bars. Here's the video, it's on my phone.

Ant: Ow!

Domonic: Yeah, it's hard to describe so I usually just show people the video. I tell them I "pretzelled myself" around the bar.

Ant: Pretzelled yourself. Nice technical term. What did it feel like? What did you hear when it happened?

Domonic: I remember my hands missing the bar and just thinking 'oh, here we go'. And I just remember bouncing off the bar and being in agony. I couldn't really breathe properly but I didn't know how severe it was, and I didn't want to look like a wimp in front of the older boys, so I just sort of crawled out, and laid down on the floor somewhere and I was like, nup, I've done something here.

Ant: And you sought medical attention?

Domonic: Yeah, when I went to the doctor he said 'I can explain those niggles for you, you've fractured your back'. Unfortunately that sort of put a stop to my gymnastics career.

Ant: And diving came along how?

Domonic: Well the aquatic centre was across the road from where I used to train. I used to know some of the divers, so I went over for a trial and it was quite good on my body. I gave it six months and it turned out quite well.

Ant: And we hope it turns out even better in Rio. Thanks for talking to the Huffington Post Australia, Domonic.

Domonic: Thanks Ant.

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