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Spanish swimmer honors Barcelona with minute of silence during race

Fernando Alvarez stood on the blocks for a minute of silence during his race. (via screenshot)
Fernando Alvarez stood on the blocks for a minute of silence during his race. (via screenshot)

Swimmer Fernando Alvarez, like so many in Spain, was stricken with grief and despair at last week’s terror attack in Barcelona. At the Masters World Championships in Budapest, Alvarez—who was slated to compete in 50, 100 and 200-meter events—wanted a minute of silence to honor the victims. After being told that wasn’t possible, Alvarez offered up his own tribute.

Meet organizers told Alvarez there wasn’t time for a minute of silence during competition. “It’s something that has affected us all,” Alvarez said (translated from Spanish). “I really think it would have been a good detail.”

Instead, he opted for a powerful tribute of his own, standing for a minute during his own 200m breaststroke race. Here, you can see Alvarez standing in silence as his fellow competitors hit the water:

“I left a minute later,” said Alvarez, whose overall time was not recorded. “But I do not care, I was feeling it more than if I won all the gold in the world.”
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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