Former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch (L) and He Zhenliang, chairman of the IOC's Commission for Culture and Olympic Education, hold up a torch for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sunday at the opening ceremony of the World Olympic Collectors Fair in Beijing. [Photo: Xinhua]

 

Former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said on Sunday that he believes the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing would be the best ever in Olympic history.

 

"I would like to repeat I am sure that the Olympic Games in Beijing will be the best in Olympic history," said Samarach when addressing the opening ceremony of the World Olympic Collectors Fair in the Chinese capital.

 

Part of the fifth 2008 Olympic Cultural Festival, the fair is being held in China for the first time, featuring a large display of pins, stamps, coins and other memorabilia bearing the Olympic rings. Other items on display will include Olympic torches, trophies and warm-up suits. There will also be a collection of Olympic-related stamps donated by Samaranch to the Lausanne-based Olympic museum.

 

Over 320 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions will display their Olympic collections.

 

Olympic pin trading has become a tradition, arising from the first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece, where athletes, officials and judges exchanged cards with their names and titles affixed.

 

Beijing Olympic organizers launched a pin-designing contest in May, welcoming people from all over China to share ideas about the Beijing Games. The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) has issued over 500 types of Olympic pins with the figure expected to reach 4,000.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007))