"The Black Power Salute" at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games. US athletes Tommy Smith & John Carlos, winner of Gold & Bronze medal respectively in the 200 m race, raised a black gloved fist as the US anthem played (1/n) 
The 3rd athlete in the picture, Australian Peter Norman, although not raising his fist, did play a very important role. In solidarity with his fellow medalists, Norman also wore the badge for Olympic Project for Human Rights (2/n)
After the final, Smith & Carlos approached Norman and told them their plan. He decided to join them. The original plan was for Smith to wear the gloves. Norman suggested they both do it (3/n)
As Carlos had left his glove at Games village, the pair shared Smith's pair (hence one raising right arm and the other left). It was Norman's last appearance at the biggest sporting spectacle on earth (4/n)
Some reports indicated in the days after, he was treated as a pariah by the Australian sporting establishment. Carlos later stated that "If we [Carlos and Smith] were getting beat up, Peter was facing an entire country and suffering alone." (5/n)
Peter Norman was not selected for the Munich Games in 1972. Norman finished 3rd in the trials and accepted that he needed to win to seal his ticket to Germany. Several contemporary news accounts conveyed a sense of injustice (6/n)
The Age while stating that (Norman) "probably ran himself out of the team at the National titles" also wrote "If the selectors do the right thing, Norman should still be on the plane to Munich" (7/n)
Peter Norman retired shortly after. When Norman died in 2006, Tommy Smith and John Carlos gave eulogies and were pallbearers at his funeral. The US Track & Field Federation declared the date of his funeral as Peter Norman Day (8/n)
In Aug, 2012, the Australian House of Representatives debated a motion to provide a posthumous apology to Norman and passed an official apology motion on Oct 11th, 2012 (9/n)
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
