Peter Norman

This article is about the Australian athlete Peter George Norman ; for the Swedish economist and politician see Peter Norman (economist) .

Peter Norman medal table
sprinter
Australia
Olympic Summer Games
silver	1968 Mexico City	200 m

Peter George Norman (born June 15, 1942 in Melbourne , † October 3, 2006 ibid) was an Australian athlete. The sprinter's greatest success was winning the silver medal in the 200-meter run at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. His time of 20.06 seconds at that time is still the Australian national record over this distance.

He became famous for his solidarity with athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos , who protested against racism in 1968 .

Olympia

The pictures from the award ceremony attracted a lot of international attention. While the national anthem was played, the two US sprinters Tommie Smith , the gold medal winner, and John Carlos raised their fists in salute to the Black Power movement. During the ceremony, Norman wore a plaque from the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) on his tracksuit as a show of solidarity . Norman was also the one who suggested that Smith and Carlos share their black gloves for greeting after Carlos forgot his pair.

John Carlos later recalled that he and Tommie Smith had previously asked Peter Norman whether he believed in human rights and in God, which he had affirmed. When asked what he thought about their protest, he said he would stand by them ("I'll stand with you") and Carlos says that instead of the fear he expected in Norman's eyes, he only saw love to have.

Athletic career

Until 1970 he was able to continue his internationally quite successful career, which was shown in victories at the Pacific Conference Games in 1969 over 200 m in 21.0 s and with the relay in the 4 × 100 m sprint. At the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970 he reached a respectable 5th place in the sprint final over 200 m in 20.86 s. From the 1971 season, his performance also decreased due to injury. Norman could not qualify for the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 as third in the Australian championship over the 200 m in 21.6 s (with strong headwinds), he missed the Olympic standard of 20.9 s. Previously, Norman had met the Olympic standard several times, but the results at the Australian Championships were set as the only criterion. According to Norman he was not allowed to attend for political reasons. Australia did not nominate any sprinters for the Olympic Games in Munich.

effect

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) was unable to cover the cost of attending it as a visitor "for financial reasons". Nevertheless, he was able to participate as a visitor at the invitation of American athletes. In 2012 there was a parliamentary apology to Norman in relation to the alleged misconduct of the AOC in connection with his non-nomination in 1972 and the failure to cover the costs of his visit to the Sydney Games in 2000. The AOC contradicted these representations and submitted "decided "Evidence of the actual operations and his Norman-related decisions for the 1968 and 2000 games.

Until recently he was on friendly terms with the two Americans. After he died of a heart attack on October 3, 2006 at the age of 64, Smith and Carlos carried his coffin to their grave. On the San Jose State University campus , bronze winners' stairs with Smith and Carlos were placed on the life-size steps. Norman's place remained vacant. Carlos stated in an interview that the execution was Norman's request. The empty space is intended to encourage visitors to follow suit and share their protest.

reception

In 2008, the film Salute by Matt Norman, Peter Norman's nephew, was shown at the Sydney Film Festival . In it, the nephew tells the story of the committed athlete.

Web links

Commons : Peter Norman  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Peter Norman in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Peter Norman in the database of Athletics Australia (English)
• Peter Norman in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• He didn't raise his fist, but he did lend a hand , obituary by Philip Derriman and Len Johnson in the Sydney Morning Herald , October 4, 2006
• Obituary: Peter Norman , Obituary by Michael Carlson in the Guardian , October 5, 2006
• Peter Norman: A White for Black Power , radio report by Thomas Reintjes in DRadio Wissen , August 5, 2016

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Invisible Second · DRadio Knowledge. Retrieved August 10, 2016 . 
2. ↑ The Invisible Second · DRadio Knowledge. Retrieved August 10, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Article on Griot , accessed on December 18, 2015: Salute to a champion
4. ↑ ^{a b} Peter Norman. Retrieved October 24, 2018 (Australian English). 
5. ^ Australian Athletics Historical Results: Peter Norman. (No longer available online.) In: Results. Athletics Australia, June 4, 2016, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; Retrieved July 11, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ IOC Releases 1972 Olympic Standards . In: Track and Field News p. 24 . May 1971.
7. ↑ Alexander Sarovic: Olympic icons 1968: The third in the picture . In: Spiegel Online . August 19, 2016 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 17, 2018]).
8. ↑ Australia at the 1972 Munich Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Sorry for Peter Norman: Australian ex-sprinter is posthumously rehabilitated , contribution by Andreas Stummer in the series Sport am Sonntag of Deutschlandfunk from September 2nd, 2012, seen on September 3rd, 2012
10. ↑ Peter Norman not shunned by AOC. In: Australian Olympic Committee News. Australian Olympic Committee , November 6, 2015, accessed July 11, 2016 . 
11. ^ Article on The Age , accessed October 7, 2011: Salute to a champion
12. ↑ Steve Georgakis: 'I will stand with you': finally, an apology to Peter Norman. Retrieved August 11, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Annette Lennartz: The Australian Parliament apologizes to the athlete Peter Norman. SWR2, October 11, 2017, accessed October 11, 2017 . 
14. ↑ 2008 Program Revealed! . May 8, 2008. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
15. ↑ Martin Krauss: IN CONVERSATION: DIRECTOR MATT NORMAN: It's a shame that today's athletes are too quiet . FAZ, May 29, 2008, accessed on October 11, 2017 .