Macedonia became the first nation that held a national flag-raising ceremony at the Athens Olympic Village on Monday.

Ioannis Manos, mayor of the Olympic Village, delivered a warm welcome speech to the Macedonian delegation.

"It is with great pleasure and honor that we welcome you. We deeply appreciate your participation and hope that all your Olympic dreams are fulfilled," he said.

Manos and Zoran Gapik, Chef-de-Mission of the Macedonian delegation, exchanged gifts at the ceremony.

Gapik gave thumbs-up to the US$397 million Olympic Village.

"It's wonderful. We're very surprised. The volunteers are very kind. I think it will be a great Olympic Games," Gapik told Xinhua.

The Macedonian delegation is composed of 24 members, including 10 athletes. They will compete in five sports -- swimming, athletics, canoeing and kayak, shooting and wrestling at the August 13-29 Games.

According to Gapik, Macedonia pins its medal hope on wrestler Mohamed Ibragimov, the bronze medallist in men's 84kg category at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2004)