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12 – 27 October – Australia participates in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, coming ninth in the medal tally with 5 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals (17 in total). 15 October – Ralph Doubell equals Peter Snell 's world record (2:04.3) in the men's 800 metres , clocking 1:44.3 at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
1968 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1968th ... African-American actor; Penny Wong, Australian politician, Foreign Minister [50]
February 8 – Civil rights movement: Orangeburg Massacre – A civil rights demonstration on a college campus to protest racial segregation at a bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina is broken up by highway patrolmen; three African American students are killed, the first instance of police killing student protestors at an American campus.
Australian Peter Norman, the silver medalist in the 200-meter run at the 1968 Olympic Games, supported Tommie Smith and John Carlos in their protest against unfair treatment of blacks in the ...
The Australian Peter Norman, who had run second, wore an American "human rights" badge as a gesture of support to them on the podium. In response, the IOC banned Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Games for life, and Norman's omission from Australia's Olympic team in 1972 was allegedly as punishment. [13] [14]
The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, [1] anti-war sentiment, civil rights urgency, youth counterculture within the silent and baby boomer generations, and popular rebellions against military states and bureaucracies.
Australia's Peter Norman finished second with a time of 20.06 seconds (an Oceania record that stood for 56 years), and the US's John Carlos finished in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to the podium for their medals to be presented by David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter .
Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 128 competitors, 104 men and 24 women, took part in 105 events in 16 sports. [1] The uniforms for Australia's female athletes were designed by Zara Holt, the widow of prime minister Harold Holt who had drowned in December 1967.