Widows make loud noise over silence

WIDOWS of two Israeli athletes killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics have pleaded with the International Olympic Committee to allow a minute’s silence at the opening ceremony of London 2012.

Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano, whose husbands Andrei Spitzer and Yosef Romano were among 11 athletes murdered in the attack at the Olympic Village in Germany, yesterday handed a petition to International Olympic Committee (IOC) chiefs containing more than 105,000 signatures from people around the world backing the call.

The women said they had shifted from hurt and anger to bafflement over the refusal, but vowed that they and their children would work through the grief to press on with the campaign.

Palestinian gunmen took hostage and then massacred the 11 Israeli team-mates in September 1972. Mrs Romano claimed that IOC president Jacques Rogge – himself a competitor at the 1972 Olympics – had “let terrorism win” and the IOC had added insult to injury by refusing the silence. She said: “By doing so he has hurt the memories of the fallen.”