To become an Australian sporting hero means winning a Brownlow Medal, breaking a world record or coming first in the Olympic Games. Such heroes usually have a short currency as new ones appear the next year and the year after. There is one notable exception: Peter Norman came second in the Mexico Olympics. Yet what he did on the victory stand places him in a category of his own; a man who stood up for human rights regardless of the personal cost, which turned out to be considerable. And fifty years later his life and heroism are celebrated in The Peter Norman Story.
On 16 October 1968, after the 200 metre sprint, winner Tommie Smith and bronze medallist John Carlos raised their fists in a black power salute. It was a protest against the racism and disadvantage that affected so many African Americans at the time. They also hung their heads during the national anthem, which led their critics to accuse them of being unpatriotic.
While the three place-getters were waiting for the medal ceremony and Carlos and Smith were planning their protest, they were surprised when Peter Norman asked how he could support them. The two African American athletes were wearing badges that read “Olympic Project for Human Rights” and Norman decided that he wanted to wear one as well.
For his silent and rather innocuous protest, Peter Norman was reprimanded by Australian officials soon afterwards. Then when returned home he believed that he was persecuted for his protest by not being chosen for the 1972 track and field team for the Munich Olympic Games.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos never forgot their Australian mate and when he died in 2006 they flew out to Australia to act as pallbearers.
In 2012, Federal MP Andrew Leigh, having learnt about Peter Norman’s story, put a motion to Parliament. It officially apologised for the treatment Peter Norman received after he returned to Australia and importantly acknowledged him as ‘a great Australian who stood with black power protesters.’
One of the book’s authors is Matt Norman, the nephew of Peter Norman, who was able to draw on his own experiences with his uncle as well as material from the family to draw an intimate portrait of Peter Norman.
The Peter Norman Story, however, follows an earlier book that Matt Norman wrote with Damien Johnston in 2008 and a film, Salute, which has been shown on SBS. This book covers much of the same material, but if you haven’t caught up with these earlier efforts, this well-written book is worth reading as it tells the story of a remarkable Australian.
THE PETER NORMAN STORY BY ANDREW WEBSTER AND MATT NORMAN, PAN MACMILLAN AUSTRALIA, RRP $34.99
