Widows call for minute’s silence at ceremony

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

Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano, whose husbands Andrei Spitzer and Yosef Romano were among 11 athletes murdered in the terror attack at the Olympic Village in Munich, yesterday handed in a petition to IOC chiefs containing over 105,000 signatures backing the call.

The women, speaking at a press conference overlooking the Olympic Stadium in east London, said they had shifted from hurt and anger to bafflement over the refusal, but vowed they and their children would work through the grief to press on with the campaign.