CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian foreign minister John Carr says the 2000 Sydney Olympics remain the best games ever, rejecting claims that London has now usurped that mantle.

International Olympic Committee head Jacques Rogge, in closing the London Games on Sunday, did not follow the tradition of his predecessor Juan Samaranch in declaring them the best games. Samaranch famously made the declaration after Sydney staged the event 12 years ago.

However, British prime minister David Cameron was among those who insisted London had outdone its predecessors.

Carr, who was premier of New South Wales state when it's capital Sydney staged the Olympics, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday his fondest memory were of those games.

He said "the title of the best games will never be taken from Sydney as far as I'm concerned."