When organisers of the 2012 Olympics found a Chinese girl with ties to London to star alongside David Beckham at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games next month it seemed they had struck gold.

Eight-year-old Erika Tham appeared to be a perfect synthesis of the host cities of the two events. There is just one snag: her family comes from London, Ontario – and appears to have no connection to Britain.

Officials – who have spent more than a year planning the moment when the Olympic flag is passed from Beijing to London – denied that they had made a blunder.

However, despite initially claiming that Tham went to school in the UK, they later admitted she lived in Beijing and that it was mere “coincidence” that her Canadian mother comes from a city that shares its name with Britain’s capital.

Tham is expected to play a key role during the ceremony on August 24, when London will have eight minutes to give the world a taste of what to expect when the Olympics arrive in 2012. She is likely to hand a football to Beckham, the former England captain, which he will kick from a red double-decker bus into the crowd at the Bird’s Nest stadium.

Tham, an aspiring actress, will also receive a symbolic gift from Leona Lewis before the pop star bursts into song.

The girl was chosen for the ceremony after she appeared in a production of Oliver!, the musical, in China.

A London spokeswoman said the ceremony was being finalised. “British youngsters, including a Blue Peter competition winner, will play a prominent role,” she said.