He was accompanied by Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, and Sir Steven Redgrave, the five-time Olympic gold medallist.

Also there were other several other former British Olympic champions, including Sir Matthew Pinsent, David Hemery, Jonathan Edwards and Denise Lewis.

Rogge also met Sachin Tendulkar, India's great cricketer, who probably took the opportunity to try to persuade the Belgian to back a growing movement for Twenty20 to be included in the 2020 Olympics.

Football greats were represented in the Royal Box packed with sportsmen, with England's 1966 World Cup winners Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst joining former national coach Bobby Robson in the prestigious seats.