World hails "the best Olympic Games in history"

The Beijing Olympic Games culminated last night in a spectacular show illuminated by a fireworks extravaganza. After the flame went out at the Olympic stadium, media around the world joined the IOC's Jacques Rogge in hailing the Games as a "truly exceptional” event.

Dazzling fireworks lit up the sky as athletes from around the world gathered together to celebrate the success of the Beijing Games at the futuristic Bird's Nest stadium.

"Tonight, we come to the end of 16 glorious days which we will cherish forever. Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world," Xinhua quotes Rogge as saying at the ceremony.

Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games (BOCOG), in turn said that the Chinese people had honored the commitments they solemnly made when bidding for the Games, Xinhua writes.

In line with formal protocol, the Olympic flag was then handed to Boris Johnson, mayor of London, the next city to host of the Summer Olympic Games. The handover was followed by an eight-minute star-studded showcase of the 2012 Games.

After the Olympic flame went out at 9:24 pm, the ceremony turned into a song and dance filled party. Nearly 3,000 Chinese performers and volunteers danced around a 20-meter-tall "Memory Tower," which resembled the heaven-reaching Babel, China.org.cn writes.

Immediately after the party drew to a close, foreign officials and media started lauding the Games and the closing ceremony in unison.

Speaking on his regular Sunday TV and radio program "Hello President," Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed the Beijing Olympics as "the best Olympic Games in history," Xinhua writes.

Other media in Latin America joined in the praise saying ”China won the Olympic Games in an spectacular and brilliant way, with sportsmen of high-level, a great organization an impeccable security,” Xinhua writes.

Everyone who had the chance to go to the Games, athletes included, had nothing but good things to say about the venues and overall organization of the event. According to Xinhua, the accommodation, competition halls, venues and the food in particular drew praise from the athletes.

The Beijing Olympics "were a triumph of the will for a people and a government determined to show their skill and confidence," Xinhua writes, citing Sunday's Los Angeles Times.

According to Reuters, China's lavish staging of the Games underlined the nation's economic superpower status: ”Never before have the Games been staged on such a grandiose scale. And it is likely they never will again,” the news agency says.

And not only did China play the perfect host to the world, it also managed to perform well in the competitions, winning more gold medals than any other country, 51 in all.