Standing for something
Peter Norman might not have won the men s 200m at the 1968 Olympic Games, but his actions afterwards were far more meaningful than just running faster than a few other people.
The following is an extract from Ben Pobjie s new book,
Second Best: The Amazing Untold Histories of the Greatest Runners-up, out August 25 via Affirm Press.
By Ben Pobjie Aug 23, 2020
The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City were quite an event, even by Olympic standards. These were the Games that saw the Olympic debut of Australian legend Raelene Boyle. Apart from that, these were also the Games where Dick Fosbury introduced his ‘Fosbury Flop’ technique in the high jump, revolutionising the sport. Today the Fosbury Flop is used near-universally by high jumpers – and earned Fosbury the nickname ‘Floppy Dick’.