Peter Norman to be recognised for role in 1968 Black Power salute

In Mexico City, he split US track stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos with his signature burst of slingshot speed off the turn to snatch silver in 20.06 seconds — an Australian record that still stands half a century later. More than that, he is remembered as “that white guy” on the victory dais as Smith and Carlos made a solemn protest that’s become one of the most famous images in modern times. As the Star Spangled Banner played, Smith and Carlos each raised a fist in the air, both of them wearing black leather gloves, to bring attention to the appalling lack of basic equal rights being afforded African Americans at home. They were booed, they feared for their lives, they were sent home and it took decades for their brave act, which continues to echo through all manner of sports and the actions of black athletes like Colin Kaepernick, to be appropriately recognised. Smith and Carlos have argued since then that their protest might never have happened without Norman, whose upbringing in the Salvation Army in Melbourne had taught him the importance of treating people equally.

“I’ll stand with you,” Norman told Carlos underneath the Estadio Olímpico minutes before the medal ceremony, later pinning an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge to his green-and-gold Australian tracksuit in support. Given the palpable tension in Mexico City at the time about black athletes using the world’s biggest stage to launch a protest — and the threat from unpopular IOC president Avery Brundage to send anyone home if they did — it would’ve been easier for Norman to not take part. To alert authorities to what was brewing. But he didn’t. Smith and Carlos have never forgotten that. Once sworn enemies on the track, they became close friends until Norman's death from a heart attack in 2006. Each time they speak about the so-called “Black Power salute", they mention Norman's role. Consequently, Peter Norman is revered and respected by many in American sport. The US Track and Field Federation declared October 9, the day of Norman's funeral, as Peter Norman Day. Last week, his part was further recognised with the unveiling of a statue at the Museum of African American History in Washington.

Yet his story is only just starting to gain the traction at home that it deserves. The AOC has long been accused of not just recognising Norman but blackballing him, including his non-selection for the team that competed at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and any involvement in celebrations around the Sydney Olympics in 2000 — something Coates has passionately disputed. Earlier this week, he was in Tokyo in his role as IOC vice-president overseeing work on venues ahead of the 2020 Olympics. He watched an NBC documentary — which is narrated by tennis legend Serena Williams — about the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Olympics. “Until I watched the documentary I didn’t know or understand just how revered Peter is in the US and not just by Tommie Smith and John Carlos but in statues and museums,” Coates told Fairfax Media. “Smith and Carlos weren’t invited to the White House with their teammates after the games as they were expelled from the village. Obama rectified this during his presidency. “While the AOC has nothing to rectify in terms of our treatment of Peter at the time, I suggest we have been negligent in not recognising him as a very great and significant Australian Olympian.

“To recognise Peter, I have recommended that we posthumously award him our Order of Merit during this 50-year anniversary of the Mexico Games.” Coates emailed the AOC executive about giving Norman the Order of Merit alongside Boyle, Gould, Thorpe and Freeman. The executive agreed and Norman's award will be announced at Saturday’s AGM. Does this move finally right a wrong? “A blue-eyed white guy by the name of Peter Norman ... they tried to whitewash him as if he didn’t exist,” Carlos said at a function in the US earlier this month. Norman’s story is slowly but surely being dragged into the light in this country. I have been working on his biography for the past year or so. The book will be released by Pan Macmillan later this year.

His story is complex and layered, much like the man himself. Winning silver, standing on that dais, being part of such a significant part of history, changed Norman in many ways — for better and worse. There are varying accounts about whether he was unfairly overlooked for Munich, including the qualifying times he ran. No male sprinters were selected for Munich but his coach, the legendary Neville Sillitoe, remains adamant Norman was snubbed because of his stance in Mexico City. In 2012, Canberra MP Andrew Leigh successfully passed a motion of apology in federal parliament for his “treatment upon his return to Australia and the failure to fully recognise his inspirational role before his untimely death in 2006”. But even then he softened the apology around Norman's exclusion because of the lack of clarity around what happened in 1972.