Memorable moment hidden from view

The mural is on the side of a Macdonaldtown house, and until 2006, was visible from Macdonaldtown station and passing trains.

It commemorates the heroic black power salute at the 68 Olympics by African American US Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos when accepting their gold and bronze medals for the 200m sprint.

Norman, who won silver and is still the fastest Australian of all time, showed his support for the pairs defiant salute by making his own statement about racism and human rights – wearing an Olympic project for Human Rights badge during the ceremony.

The incident was controversial at the time and despite easily qualifying, Norman was not selected by Australian Olympic officials to compete at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

He was also not invited to the Sydney Olympics by organisers and died in 2006.

Norman’s nephew, filmmaker Matt Norman, said: “For us it’s the only representation of Peter that stands anywhere in the world and now that it’s covered by barriers it’s once again been forgotten because of governmental bureaucracy.”

Macdonaldtown resident Gretchen Miller said that RailCorp had not asked residents about their thoughts on the mural.

“We feel at the very least RailCorp should transpose the image onto the barrier itself,” Ms Miller said.