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Spanish Swimmer Forfeits Race To Pay Tribute To Barcelona Victims

Swimmer said action was worth "all of the gold medals in the world".

A Spanish swimmer whose request to mark a minute's silence for the victims of the Barcelona attack was denied, has started his race a minute late at an international meet.

Fernando Alvarez took off from the blocks a minute after his competitors during the 200m breaststroke heat at the 2017 FINA Masters World Championships in Budapest, to pay tribute to the victims of the Barcelona terror attack that claimed the lives of 14 people and injured 120.

According to Swimswam, Alvarez asked that a minute silence be held before his race. He later told Spanish media that event officials denied this request, saying they "couldn't spare a minute".

In response, Alvarez took matters into his own hands and took part in an individual minute of silence, before beginning his race.

Spanish swimer Fernando Alvarez, didn't jump on water for 60 sec to respect 1 minute of silent for Barcelona attack victims!

— Blaugrana Online (@CallMeBlaugrana) August 21, 2017

Alvarez, who was one of the fastest qualifiers for the heat, did not have his time for the swim recorded, however, said this really didn't bother him.

"I started a minute late," he told Spanish media site El Español. "But that doesn't matter. What I was feeling was more than if I had won all of the gold medals in the world."

And it seems other people think he's won all the world's medals as well.

Swimswam reports that there was a minute of silence held for the Barcelona attacks at the beginning of that same day.

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