(CNN) -- Forty-four years ago, an Australian man stood on the Olympic podium in Mexico alongside two American athletes who, with their heads bowed, punched the air with gloved hands in a black power salute. The peaceful yet potent political protest at the 1968 Olympics by 200-meter medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos became a symbol of the struggle for civil rights in America. To their left in the photo stood silver medalist, Australian Peter Norman, who stared straight ahead, his hands by his side, but who expressed his support for the pair by wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge.
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Australian Parliament debates whether to issue apology to Peter Norman
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Norman famously supported the 1968 Olympics black power salute protest
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AOC says there's no need for an apology as Peter Norman wasn't wronged
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Norman's family says the Olympian was "blacklisted" after his silent political protest
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Yet, on the list of famous @placeholder athletes, Norman barely rates a mention.
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The AOC said no former athletes were invited and that Norman was offered tickets to buy to attend, like any other former @placeholder Olympian, as the cost "would have been astronomical" to host them all.
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"The AOC is certainly right that they treated him like every other former @placeholder," Leigh said.