The photo was a symbol of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, when John Carlos and Tommie Smith took the podium on October 16. The photo is symbolic of the struggle for Black civil rights in the United States.
“If I win I am an American, not a black American. But if I did something bad then they would say ‘a Negro’. We are black and we are proud of being black … Black America will understand what we did tonight.”
These were Smith’s words as they left the podium to boos.
Tommie Smith, who had won the gold medal in the 200 meters and set a historic world record, marking the first time the event had broken 20 seconds, clocked 19.83 seconds. He was followed by Australian Peter Norman, leaving fellow American Carlos in third place.
For the podium, the Americans were required to wear black gloves, representing Black poverty. But there were other demonstrations in addition. Smith wore a black scarf, demonstrating Black pride, and Carlos had his coat unbuttoned as a sign of solidarity with Black workers (something prohibited by regulation).
Australian Norman not only showed sympathy for the ideals of his American teammates, but he also ended up offering a helping hand. Carlos forgot his black gloves in the Olympic Village. Norman suggested they each put on one, sharing a pair. This is why one raises his right hand and the other his left.
In addition, the three athletes wore badges from the Olympic Project for Human Rights, a project by sociologist Harry Edwards, who wanted to boycott the Olympic Games. Edwards, a doctor of sociology and professor emeritus at an American university, focused his career on the experiences of African American athletes.
And what happened afterwards?
The president of the International Olympic Committee at the time considered it an inappropriate domestic policy move, and the response was to suspend Smith and Carlos from the U.S. team and ban them from the Olympic Village. The U.S. Olympic Committee refused to accept the sanctions, and Brundage doubled down, threatening to ban the entire U.S. team if they did not comply. Both athletes were ultimately expelled from the Olympic Games two days later.
All three athletes suffered consequences upon returning home. Americans Carlos and Smith suffered forced isolation from public life, known as ostracism. Meanwhile, Australian Norman was reprimanded by his country’s Olympic committee and dropped from the 1972 Olympics despite having qualified.
Norman continued practicing until an Achilles tendon injury caused him to develop gangrene.
A heart attack took him in 2006 at the age of 64. Smith and Carlos carried the coffin of the athlete who accompanied them on a podium that went down in Olympic history.
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