AIBA President, Dr Ching-Kuo Wu represented the Olympic Philately, Numismatic and Memorabilia Commission of the International Olympic Committee on behalf of IOC President Dr Rogge and Chairman Mr Gerhard Heiberg at the Opening Ceremony of the 18th World Olympic Collectors Fair in Athens, Greece, on 17 May 2012.
He also attended the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony and gave a speech at the Opening Ceremony.
"I was delighted to be invited to attend the Fair", Dr Wu stated. "As a member of the IOC Philately, Numismatics and Memorabilia Commission, a long time Olympic collector and operating two Olympic Museums in China, you can see I have a deep interest in Olympic history and collecting. For me, attending a Collectors Fair, in the Zappeion, in Athens, and having an exhibition of Greek Olympic history as part of the Fair, and the event being associated with the handover of the Olympic flame to London, is like being a child in a sweet shop.
"The Olympic flame is a universal symbol of the Olympic spirit. The flame that leaves Athens for London this evening will not be the only flame that leaves Athens this weekend. Many who attend this Fair will be inspired by what they have experienced and will return home, whether within Greece or internationally, carrying their own internal flame of interest in collecting Olympic history and, through that, help to spread the Olympic spirit".
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