Here is the third in the selection of the most important photographs in Australian sporting history. The images are not ranked or presented in any particular order. Ranking is a subjective notion that I won’t buy into.
Each image presents a frozen moment in time that has historical significance in the Australian world of sport. Even more importantly, each image opens the door to a back story that resonates deeply within Australian culture, consciousness and society. In other words, the photos have more guts than they may appear to have on the surface. With some images, you will have a good idea of what is going on in the shot and may have some understanding of the back story. With others, the importance of the image and story may be a complete surprise. It’s appropriate, given the that the 2024 Paris Olympics is about to commence, that this story is about one of Australia’s greatest ever Olympic athletes.
For me, this is one of the most important photographs in Australian sporting history. At the superficial level, it’s an image of an Australian athlete being awarded a silver medal at the Summer Olympic Games. An Aussie taking out silver in track is significant (and quite rare) in its own right, but the deeper story behind the image is an absolute humdinger.
The two American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, (who were expected to take out the gold and silver medals in the 200m final), landed themselves in hot water when they gave the black power salute (as a sign of their commitment to the human rights for black Americans movement which was reaching a feverish peak back in the United States at the time) during the playing of their national anthem. Making political gestures, being banned at the Olympic Games, caused the Americans to be immediately sanctioned and returned home. What few realized at the time, was that the Australian, who surprised everyone by beating Carlos to the line and winning the silver medal, played a significant role in the protest as well.
Scarce recognition
Despite denials from Australian sporting and political officialdom, his participation caused him to receive scarce recognition for what was one of the greatest performances by an Australian athlete in this country’s sporting history. Not only did his time of 20.06 seconds in the 200 m final break the Australian record but that time is still the Australian record over fifty years later. Peter Norman’s blistering record-breaking run at Mexico City in 1968 produced the longest unbroken Australian record in our track and field history! The man was a sprinting Aussie legend!
Peter Norman grew up in Coburg, Victoria, and was raised as part of the Salvation Army faith. As a committed Christian, Norman firmly believed in equality for all people before God. The young Australian champion was not expected to be in serious medal contention when he was selected to compete for Australia at the Mexico City Summer Olympic Games, but he thrilled a sports-loving nation by winning his first-round heat (in an Olympic record time), winning his quarter final heat, then coming second in his semi-final to qualify for the big dance.
Smith (who was an unbackable favourite for the final) and Carlos (the man expected to finish second) had never heard of the white bloke from Australia before the games, so they were as shocked as the rest of the athletic world, when the formerly less well-known Victorian pipped Carlos on the finish line to grab the silver.
“I’ll stand with you”
Smith and Carlos, who had planned, before the event, to make their political gesture at the conclusion of the race, approached Norman and asked him how he felt about human rights before explaining to him what they planned to do on the podium. Norman stated that he intended to stand with them and immediately looked around for a way that he could show his support (without inappropriately making a black power salute). The Australian sprinter borrowed an “Olympic Project for Human Rights” badge from a US rower who was nearby and pinned it to his track suit before mounting the podium. Wearing a political symbol was banned under Olympic rules, but Norman felt that his commitment to human rights was more important than the sporting body’s rulebook.
John Carlos later said that he and Smith expected to see fear in Norman’s eyes, as they approached the podium, (given that what was about to transpire was going to cause enormous controversy). Carlos explained that Norman’s eyes showed no signs of fear at all. All they could see was love!
Clenched fists!
Carlos and Smith later acknowledged that it was Norman’s idea for the two American athletes to share the one pair of black gloves that they had with them. Smith was to wear one glove on his right hand and Carlos, the second glove, on his left hand. Together, they would raise their gloved hands (with the clenched fists of the black power movement) when the Star-Spangled Banner started to boom out across the packed stadium.
Norman was reprimanded by the Australian Olympic team chef de mission, over his role in the protest, but no other official punishments were metered out. Even though Norman was not officially further punished by Australian sporting bodies, many argue that his future running career and potential supporting roles within Australian sport were deeply impacted by his decision to join with Smith and Carlos in their protest.
Black-listed
Norman’s supporters claim that his failure to be selected for the Munich Olympic Games team (despite his running qualifying times on numerous occasions previously) and the failure of the organizers of the Sydney Olympic Games to fully utilize his status as one of Australia’s greatest ever athletes in official roles in the lead up to and during the Sydney games are proof of the fact that he had been unofficially black-listed.
While arguments from Australian Olympic officials, since that time, justifying their decisions to ”leave Norman out” carry some weight, it still seems clear that, when one considers the level of this athlete’s achievements, he was never given the credit that his athletic performances and human rights stand warranted. When the United States Olympic Team officials heard that he had not been invited to attend or play a role at the Sydney Games, he was officially invited by the US team to attend as one of their official guests.
A man who should have been a hero of Australian Olympic sports was seemingly shunned by his own country yet lauded by another! Norman died, at the age of 64, in 2006. Carlos and Smith attended his funeral, gave eulogies and acted as coffin pallbearers. In 2012 the Australian House of Representatives debated a posthumous motion of apology to the man who was still Australia’s 200m record holder.
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