The 74-year-old from Victoria was a key figure in the Gold Coast 2018 bid campaign and his presence at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis earlier this month played a decisive factor in helping his city hold off sole rivals Hambantota of Sri Lanka by 43 votes to 27 in the final vote.

But shortly after his triumphant return from the Caribbean, Clarke's leg blew up alarmingly.

The Mayor tried to play down the issue and even attended the recent Gold Coast City Council meetings earlier this week but after the problem did not subside, he was forced to undergo surgery.

The operation meant that the Mayor missed the prestigious Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards but despite his absence, he was given a rapturous round of applause at the event due to his role in helping the city secure the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

''Because I had a carcinoma taken off on Friday (November 25) I had to keep my leg up and raised because there were about 20 stitches in it,'' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

''But I am up and about today.

"It's almost as good as new.''

Clarke revealed that it was the second carcinoma removed that had been removed in the last year.

''My brother died from a melanoma about 10 years ago, that's why I am pretty careful about having a proper operation to get it all out, because he waited too long,'' he said.

Clarke is widely known across Australia as one of the world's best middle and long-distance runners during the 1960s and he also lit the Olympic Flame at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games when he was still a promising 19-year-old.

He won Olympic bronze at the Tokyo 1964 Games and four Commonwealth Games silver medals across three editions of the competition while he set 17 world records in a remarkable career.

But Clarke suffered a major health scare during the Mexico City 1968 Olympic when collapsed and nearly died from altitude sickness sustained during the gruelling 10,000 metres final after refusing to quit despite struggling in the race from the outset.

He suffered permanent heart damage from this event but remarkably still got up to finish the event in sixth place despite remembering nothing of the last lap.

He sufficiently recovered to compete in the 5,000 metre heats a few days later but the heart condition has continued to plague him ever since and he was unable to join the Gold Coast 2018 bid team at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games last year due to the problem.

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