THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN YEREVAN WILL FLY THE OLYMPIC HANDOVER FLAG FOR SEVEN DAYS

arminfo
2008-08-25 19:55:00

ArmInfo. On Sunday August 24, London received the Olympic flag,
signalling the start of its reign as Olympic Host City.

The British Embassy in Yerevan report that the Olympic Handover Flag
was raised on 24th August across the UK and in its Overseas Missions
from Vancouver to Tokyo in an unprecedented gesture to celebrate the
moment when London becomes the next Summer Olympic Host City.

The British Embassy in Yerevan will fly the Olympic Handover Flag
for seven days. HMA Charles Lonsdale said:

"We congratulate the Armenian team on their achievements in winning
six medals in Beijing. This has been a fantastically successful
Olympics for British sport too. We look forward to welcoming Armenian
athletes in four years time, and wish them even more success in the
London Games."

Mayor of London Boris Johnson was symbolically handed the Olympic
flag by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge in
front of a worldwide audience estimated to be around 1.6 billion
at the closing ceremony of the Games in Beijing. Footballer David
Beckham, singer Leona Lewis and rock legend Jimmy Page led London’s
eight-minute performance during the closing ceremony.

In London, 40,000 people attended a celebration concert outside the
Queen’s residence, Buckingham Palace where giant screens beamed the
closing ceremony.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said:
"Athens was returning to the roots, to the country that invented the
Olympic Games.

China was the most populous country in the world. London is the
capital city of the country that has invented modern sport, that has
invented the rules of the sports, and the values of fair play. It is
a cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic and multi-religious city".

London will become the first city to stage the Olympics for a third
time.

The capital staged the Games in 1908 after Rome pulled out of hosting
the Olympics following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. In 1948, London
staged what became known as the Austerity Games following World War II.