Earlier in the week I blogged about Tommie Smith and John Carlos as one of the most-famous examples of athletes' political speech. This week's Sports Illustrated reports on the death of Peter Norman, the Australian sprinter who won the silver medal in that race and shared the medal stand with Carlos and Smith in the famous photo. (See at left). A fuller story on Norman (and on the Carlos/Smith protest) is available here.According to the blurb in SI, Norman supported the protest by wearing a human-rights button during the ceremony. Also, it apparently was Norman's idea that Carlos and Smith each wear one glove. Carlos had forgotten his gloves, so Norman suggested that each wear one of his gloves, on different hands. Norman was reprimanded by Australian sports authorities, although not as severely punished or ostracized as Carlos and Smith.
Norman appeared with Carlos and Smith in 2005 at a ceremony at San Jose State University, where a statue of the two American sprinters was unveiled.