BEIJING, CHINA - Olympic tennis silver-medallist Anabel Medina Garrigues has apologised after a new photo emerged of Spanish athletes holding the corners of their eyes in an unflattering imitation of Chinese.

Medina said the photo, which shows nine people making the gesture including herself and fellow Olympians Carla Suarez Navarro and Nuria Llagostera Vives, was not 'racist' and wasn't intended to cause offence.

It is the second such picture after Spain's basketball team was photographed making the 'slit-eyed' pose in an advert for a courier company.

'We think maybe we took a bad picture but we never wanted to offend anybody. 'We didn't see it as a racist gesture.'

Asked if she wanted to apologise, Medina said: 'Yes, sure. We never wanted to do anything bad.'

The gesture is apparently not seen as offensive in Spain. Although some of the basketball players have apologised, Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon defended it as 'affectionate.'

Britain's Guardian newspaper said the latest picture was posted on the Spanish tennis federation's website with the caption, 'We are prepared for Beijing' in Spanish. It is not currently on the site.

The photograph is thought to have been taken in April during Spain's Federation Cup semi-final with China in Beijing.

Spanish reaction to the basketball row has been angry with some commentators suggesting a conspiracy to derail Madrid's bid for the 2016 Olympics.

There has been no comment from Chinese officials. An International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokeswoman said the basketball picture was 'inappropriate' but added the matter was closed.

'Clearly it was inappropriate, we understand the team has apologised and absolutely meant no offence whatsoever,' Giselle Davies told reporters.

Madrid is one of the four finalist cities to host the 2016 Games, facing off against Chicago, Tokyo and Rio De Janiero. The IOC will announce the host city in October.

Spanish sports have been tainted by race-related incidents in the past. World football governing body FIFA fined the Spanish federation after fans directed monkey chants at black England players during a 2004 friendly in Madrid.

Last year a handful of Formula One fans targeted British driver Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona while four years ago ex-national team coach Luis Aragones was caught making a racist remark about French star Thierry Henry.

Medina and partner Virginia Ruano Pascual claimed the women's doubles silver medal when they were beaten by China's Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in Sunday's final.