A posthumous Order of Merit has been awarded to 1968 Mexico Olympics 200m track silver medallist Peter Norman, which AOC president John Coates admitted was overdue.
Coates said the Order of Merit to Norman, whose family couldn't be present on Saturday, would be given to them at the Olympic Museum in Melbourne at a later date.
AOC President John Coates said that Peter Norman's award was overdue. Source: AAP
Norman stood in solidarity with Americans Tommie Smith and Jon Carlos, the other two medallists in his event, during their civil rights protest on the dais in Mexico City.
Coates denied Norman had subsequently been snubbed by the AOC.
"I'm absolutely certain from all the history I've read that we didn't do the wrong thing by him," Coates said.
"But I absolutely think we've been negligent in not recognising the role he played back then."
Swimmer Shane Gould and track athlete Cathy Freeman were among the other legendary Olympians who received an AOC Order of Merit.
Cathy Freeman's 400m gold medal performance was one of the highlights of the Sydney Olympic Games. (AAP)
The two Olympians talked about the burdens and responsibilities surrounding their status after recently becoming friends.
"I've had the honour and absolute joy of spending time with someone I can now call a friend in Shane Gould, she's been kind enough to allow me into her private life," 'Freeman said on Saturday.
Freeman won the womens' 400m in Sydney in 2000, less than two weeks after lighting the Olympic cauldron.
Gould, who won five medals, including three gold, at the 1972 Munich Olympics, setting a world record in each event, said it had been wonderful to get to know Freeman over the past few months.
1972: Shane Gould celebrates after winning a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany. Source: Getty Images
"We've had some walks on some lovely beaches and sharing some meals and long evening conversations about the role of being an Olympic champion and the legacies that we can leave," Gould said.
"But also the burdens and the responsibilities that we don't know that is going to come upon us, but is part of the graciousness and the responsibility of being an Olympic champion.
"And that's what shapes us in our characters as we live beyond our Olympic and athletic years."
Other recipients who weren't present were swimmer Ian Thorpe, and track sprinter Raelene Boyle.
