AOC gives posthumous honour to Australian Olympian Peter Norman
The Australian Olympic Committee has awarded a posthumous Order of Merit to Peter Norman, the Australian sprinter who shared the podium with Tommie Smith and John Carlos when the two Americans raised their fists in a human rights protest at the 1968 Olympics.
Norman, who died in Melbourne in 2006, stood alongside Smith and Carlos during their silent protest on the 200 metres medal podium in Mexico City, where they raised their fists in a human rights salute.
Smith and Carlos told Norman of their plans to use the medal presentation to promote their cause and he reportedly told them "I will stand with you".
The Peter Norman Commemoration Committee is currently fighting for a monument to be erected in Melbourne's CBD to acknowledge Norman's actions in support of civil rights.
At the AOC AGM, president John Coates said that Norman's achievements as an athlete — his silver-medal winning time of 20.06 seconds at Mexico City remained an Australian record 50 years after he set the mark — were dwarfed by his support for the gold and bronze medallists who raised their gloved fists and bowed their heads during the American national anthem.
"This is an overdue award there is no doubt. The respect for Peter and his actions is still enormous to this day," Coates said.
"He believed in human rights throughout his life. We lost Peter in 2006 but we should never lose sight of his brave stand that day and further as a five-time national champion, his Australian 200 metres record set in Mexico has never been matched.
"His athletic achievement should never be underestimated."
Coates made the announcement during the AOC's annual general meeting on Saturday.
Also honoured at the AGM were four other Australian Olympians — sprinter Raelene Boyle, swimmers Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe and athlete Cathy Freeman.
Boyle is a three-time Olympic silver medallist, and flagbearer for Australia in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, also won seven Commonwealth Games gold medals.
Gould won three individual gold medals in Munich — the only Australian ever to achieve the feat — before retiring as a 17-year-old two years later.
Freeman lit the flame at the Sydney Olympics, before winning the women's 400m final at the Olympic stadium at the same Games. Thorpe holds the record for most Olympic gold medals won by an Australian, with five, along with 11 world championship gold medals, nine Pan Pacific titles and 10 Commonwealth Games gold medals.
"Raelene Boyle, Catherine Freeman, Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe. What wonderful ambassadors for Australia and Australian sport," Coates said.
"Each has made a contribution for which they can be proud and for which Australians are very grateful".
AP/ABC
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