The “other guy” from one of the most iconic Olympic photos in history is being recognized on Twitter for fighting racial injustice, nearly 50 years after he stood next to two athletes who protested the U.S. national anthem with their fists raised in a “black power” salute.

The historic photo captures the moment when African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos protested their country’s national anthem in Mexico at the 1968 Summer Games, after winning gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the 200-metre sprint. Australian sprinter Peter Norman was also present at the time, having won the silver medal in the race.

Norman is largely overlooked as the one figure not protesting, but as South African activist and marketer Khaya Dlanga pointed out this week, he was actually supporting Carlos and Smith in the photo – an act for which he would pay dearly when he returned home to Australia. Dlanga told Norman’s story in a series of tweets that have been liked and retweeted thousands of times since Sunday.

“Many of us know this famous picture of Tommie Smith and John Carlos,” Dlanga wrote on Twitter. “But few know the bravery and tragedy of the white guy, Peter Norman.”

Norman provided Smith and Carlos with the black gloves they wore on their raised fists, as Dlanga points out. Norman also wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge to show his solidarity with Smith and Carlos during their planned act of protest.

Norman was treated as a pariah for his actions when he returned to Australia. The country barred Norman from attending the 1972 Games in Munich, despite setting the country’s speed record in 1968 and re-qualifying multiple times for the next Games. “He was treated as an outsider,” Dlanga wrote. “He couldn’t find work and eventually got a job as a gym teacher in a school.”

In a series of tweets, Dlanga explains how Norman continued to speak out about racial inequality in his home country for the remainder of his life, despite being labelled an outcast. Dlanga says Norman was told multiple times that he would be welcomed back in the Australian Olympic community if he denounced Smith and Carlos, but he refused to do so.

“He could have prevented his suffering,” Dlanga tweeted. “He would have been pardoned and been part of the organizing committee of the 2000 (Sydney) Olympic Games. He refused.”

Dlanga says Norman also declined to be part of a sculpture commemorating the Olympic protest moment at San Jose State University, saying instead that he wanted people to stand in his place on the sculpture’s podium, so they could show solidarity with the figures of Carlos and Smith.

“Some heroes are never recognized,” Dlanga tweeted. “But he was not about recognition, he simply stood for what was right.”

Norman died in 2006, and Carlos and Smith were among his pallbearers.

The Australian government issued an apology to Norman six years after his death, along with an acknowledgement of his Olympic achievements and “brave” efforts to fight injustice.