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Munich victim's son thanks Aly Raisman for honouring athletes

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The son of one of the athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics 40 years ago has thanked an American Jewish medallist for paying tribute to the victims after her victory.

Aly Raisman, the gymnast who now has two gold medals and a bronze to her name, performs her signature routine to the Jewish folk tune "Hava Nagila".

Speaking after her second victory, the 18-year-old said it was particularly poignant to win on the 40th anniversary of the massacre, in which 11 Israelis and a policeman were killed by Palestinian terrorists.

She gave her backing to the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to convince the International Olympic Committee to commemorate the victims during the Opening Ceremony even before arriving in London.

Speaking after her latest win, she said: "The fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold means a lot to me."

Guri Weinberg, whose father was murdered athlete Moshe Weinberg, told the Simon Wiesenthal Centre that he wanted to thank her from the bottom of his heart for standing up to the IOC.

He praised her courage, adding that most athletes her age would be worrying about other things, adding that it was valuable "to have that kind of support from such a young generation" who and to stand up to the IOC

"She's got a lot to teach the IOC and the rest of the world about what's right."

He also praised the Italian athletes for paying tribute to the Munich 11 and the pilots who held silences on their planes as they flew over Munich. "I'm so thankful to all of them.

"They are really teaching the younger generation what happened so this is not forgotten."

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