"We are confident that our Chinese friends will organize fantastic Games in Beijing," Spyros Capralos, president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and member of the International Olympic Committee, said during a ritual sun-ray ceremony in Athens on Oct 19.

"Greek and Chinese civilizations meet again in less than 15 years for both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Games. I think it is a happy occasion, because the Chinese people proved in 2008 that they know how to organize an excellent Olympic Games," Mayor of Ancient Olympia Georgios Georgiopoulos said.

"It was probably one of the best Games organized in recent years, and we believe that this event will have the same success," he said.