Former England football captain, David Beckham, said on Sunday that he was "incredibly proud" to be part of the historic handover ceremony marking the end of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Beckham spoke to AP Television at a party at London House in Beijing.

He paid tribute to those who have worked hard to get London to this stage of the process and said he expected they would have a great night but that there was still a lot of hard work to be done.

China completed its stint as Olympic host on Sunday with a superstar-studded closing ceremony in Beijing that capped a 16-day pageant of state-of-the-art logistics and astounding athletic feats.

Beckham joined and veteran Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in helping London take the reins as host of the 2012 games.

The football icon said his sons watched the ceremony on television in Europe which he said was great.

During the ceremony, Beckham was handed a football and was asked to kick it into a crowd of athletes, many of them from Britain's Olympic team, Team GB.

"I was actually more scared of dropping the ball when I held the ball up. I knew I'd be alright kicking the ball but it was the holding the ball up that was worrying me," he said.