It was good to see such massive crowds in Cardiff (like the rest of Wales so far) for the Olympic torch relay.
Crowds on Duke Street, outside Cardiff Castle, ready to welcome the Olympic torch to the Welsh capital
Obviously the weather played a big part in getting people out onto the streets of the capital, which was carried by Welsh rugby captain Sam Warburton among others.
It was good to see so many Union flags – as well as Welsh flags – on Cardiff’s streets, demonstrating the Olympics have been embraced by people all over the United Kingdom, not just those in London.
Still, everything has a downer – or in this case, two:
- 1. Tickets for the Millennium Stadium football are still hugely undersold, despite hosting big games in the tournament, including Team GB. It would be a huge shame if Cardiff is embarrassed by showcasing a half-empty stadium to the world, especially as the very first event of the 2012 Olympics will take place in the Welsh capital
- 2. The guy below. OK, so it was only one person in the whole of Cardiff, but who, really, would make the effort to make as unreasonable a point as this on a celebratory occasion? As a Welsh football fan I am not looking forward to watching Gareth Bale and David Beckham (hopefully) on the same side. Lighten up, mate.
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One-man protest at the Cardiff Olympic torch relay against Welsh involvement in Team GB football
An Early Bath 
[…] Cardiff has bid the Olympic torch farewell after a weekend of events which included a Coopers Field concert – featuring rock band You Me At Six, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Brit award winner Emeli Sandé and Cardiff-based Kids In Glass Houses – in front of thousands. […]
Followed a link from my Flickr account where you kindly let me know that you’d used one of my photos for a blog post on the Kassam Stadium. Since then, the Wrexham away trips I’ve been on have taken mre to remote villages in the Cotswalds and charming places like Bath (and Newport!).
Regarding the guy in the last picture, he was by no means the only guy in Cardiff who held the same view. Every Welsh footie fan that I know (i.e. those who pay and turn up to watch the Wales national side) felt the same, and it’s far from an unreasonable point. He made the effort probably to attemt to show some counterbalance the the gushing and the one-sided view by the media that everyone in Wales was happy with the idea of a Team GB footie team.