Paul Lewis: This Aussie deserved a better farewell

There are any number of ironies in the death of Australian sprinter Peter Norman, two weeks ahead of the 38th anniversary (on October 17) of the infamous black-gloved racial inequality protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Australia has been sadly and emotionally farewelling racing driver Peter Brock and TV's Steve Irwin recently. Ironically, Norman probably did more service to Australia than either of them but the grief over his death, nationally and internationally, has been comparatively muted.

Norman was the surprise Australian silver medallist who split Smith and Carlos in the 200m in Mexico City. He died of a heart attack while mowing his lawn in Melbourne on October 3.

The explosive 1.91m Smith won the race in world record time. Carlos, a previous world record holder, was so busy dipping towards the line and watching Smith, he did not see the fast-finishing Norman blindsiding him to take silver.

But the race paled into insignificance compared to the aftermath. The clenched-fist, heads-lowered, black-gloved salute of Smith and Carlos on the victory dais, as the US national anthem was blaring, shook the world.

Carlos and Smith endured much for that moment. The American team sent them home to an outraged US after an equally outraged International Olympic Committee demanded it. They paid the full price for their protest. Americans saw a lack of respect; many mistakenly saw the salute as that of the Black Panthers, a violent civil rights organisation; leading sports broadcaster Brent Mussberger called them "black-skinned stormtroopers".

Doors were shut, jobs were almost impossible to find. There were death threats and their houses were attacked. Carlos' first wife, unable to endure the backlash, committed suicide. Smith told how a rock crashed through a window near where their baby was stationed. "It seemed like everybody hated me," he said. "I had no food. My baby was hungry. My wife had no dresses."

Carlos, unable to find a job paying more than minimum wage, used to travel to Las Vegas where he boosted his meagre earnings into enough money to house and feed his family. "We are sort of show horses for the white people out there," Carlos said after his protest. "They give us peanuts, pat us on the back and say: 'Boy, you did fine'."

No-one was patting them on the back any more.

But what of Norman? As Smith and Carlos plotted their protest while waiting for the medal ceremony, Norman made the suggestion that each of the black athletes wear one of Smith's gloves, creating the famous image.

Norman wore a human rights badge in support of their action because of his strong belief that "all men are created equal".

Big deal, right? White Boy Wears Badge. But Norman also went home to disapproval, criticism and was ostracised by the Australian media. He was largely forgotten, especially as he fell on hard times after an Achilles injury went gangrenous and he nearly lost a leg. Forced into a wheelchair, he lapsed into depression and drank heavily.

He came out of it and took a job with the Melbourne department of sport and was active in administration and the organisation of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Ironically, Carlos and Smith - though united in protest - have never been close friends. Both have claimed the credit for the idea of the protest. Smith also felt insulted when he heard that Carlos was saying he let Smith win the 200m because the gold medal was "more important to him". Carlos was unrepentant and also said of the protest: "He had the gloves. I had the idea."

But both agree on the importance of Norman's role.

And there is the central irony of the Peter Norman story. The quiet white boy, a fifth generation 'Salvo' (Salvation Army follower) was the filling in this racial and political sandwich. It was his idea to split the gloves - Smith wore the right-hand and Carlos the left-hand. The black guys didn't like each other much but they both liked Norman.

So the very thing they were protesting about occurred in that Olympic tunnel - black and white working together, with mutual respect. This from a white boy from a country whose own race relations and treatment of its indigenous people has won few plaudits. Aboriginals were not even counted in the census until 1967. Another irony.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, there was virtually no mention of this fine athlete, whose 1968 time would have won a 200m medal (often gold) at every Olympics up to the 1984 games in Los Angeles. He was the last Australian male sprinter to win an Olympic medal.

One reporter found the famous photograph of the three in the salute in 2000 but only in a downtown Aboriginal area. The heading was 'Three Proud Men.'

On Monday, October 9, two of those proud men, Smith and Carlos, were pallbearers at Peter Norman's funeral.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY