President Ivo Josipovic formally opened the Croatian Olympic House in London, which will serve as a meeting point and a press centre for Croatia's participants, reporters and guests in the ongoing 30th Olympic Games.
The Croatian Olympic Committee's officials -- Zlatko Matesa and Josip Cop -- welcomed the president in front of the house before the opening ceremony.
President Josipovic, who on Friday evening attended the opening ceremony of this summer Olympiad, said that "the Olympic Games are a great event in which athletes compete for medals but they also make new friends."
"I hope that these Games will be successful for Croatia, not only in terms of medals won, but also in terms of promotion of Croatia's tourism and economy. London is a sort of centre of the world and therefore it is important for Croatia to be promoted properly, and this House can help for that purpose," the Croatian head of state said.
He praised Croatia's team, which consists of over 100 athletes who will compete in 18 sports, for having invested much hard work to participate in the Games. He said that he considered all of those who made it to the Games as winners.
During today's ceremony Croatian amateur cyclists who arrived in London on 26 July just before the start of the Games, covering 3,000 kilometres after they set out on their journey from Zagreb a month before, handed a T-shirt with their signatures to President Josipovic.
The Croatian Olympic House is located in Pelham Street near South Kensington underground station.