IOC rejects Spain request for air crash mourning

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish request to commemorate the 153 people killed in an air crash has been rejected by Olympic officials, the country's Olympic committee said on Thursday.

Despite the International Olympic Committee's refusal to allow the Spanish to mark Wednesday's disaster at Madrid airport, gold medal winning sailors Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz of Spain took to the podium wearing black armbands.

The Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) said they wanted Spanish athletes to compete wearing black armbands and for Spanish flags to be flown at half mast.

"There have been similar requests from other countries before," COE President Alejandro Blanco told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

"America wanted it for a coach who was killed, Zambia because their president died and then the cruellest thing which was Georgia and Russia.

"In all three cases the IOC has refused the requests to fly the flags at half mast. We explained our case and debated it, but the decision is irrevocable."

Blanco was speaking during an act of remembrance for the victims at the "Casa de Espana" in Beijing.

Echavarri and Paz won gold medals in the Tornado class.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)