I’VE been back at my desk this week after a fortnight off watching the Olympics – and what a fantastic Games they were.

Apparently 90 per cent of the UK population watched at least 15 minutes of the Games on the BBC.

I don’t know what percentage of the viewing public watched almost every minute of London 2012, but the figure would include me.

The only event I actually attended was the Team GB versus Uruguay men’s football match in Cardiff but that was enough to fill me with the Olympic spirit – particularly because all the pre-match predictions that Wales would not support the Games or the notion of a British team turned out to be utter rubbish.

The streets of the capital were awash with Union flags, the vast majority of the 70,000 in the stadium sang God Save The Queen and a good time was had by all.

The fuss about Welsh players not singing the anthem was so much stuff and nonsense. Were they really staging some kind of nationalist protest?

I doubt it. How often did Ryan Giggs sing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau when he played for Wales? How often does Wayne Rooney sing God Save The Queen when he plays for England?

There is no rule that says you have to sing your national anthem or that you should not respect anyone else’s.

Like it or not, God Save The Queen is the national anthem of the United Kingdom. There is no reason why Welsh people should not sing it, there is no reason why they should.

My two sons are Welsh to the core and decided not to sing the anthem, but they stood and respected it and even admitted afterwards that the noise created by the crowd singing sent a shiver up their spines.

The Games as a whole were a fantastic advertisement for Britain and created a feelgood factor across the nation as a whole.

Seeing so many people packing venues and streets supporting a Games hailed worldwide as a huge success must have stuck in the craw of those who have done nothing but complain about London 2012.

The whingers are still at it, of course, but they are in the tiniest of minorities.

Most people in this country enjoyed every moment of a magical Olympics, undoubtedly among the best ever staged.

London 2012 did Britain proud.

And Britain did the Olympics proud.

Hard work pays off for teenagers

TEENAGERS across Gwent are picking up their A-level results this morning, my eldest son included.

I echo the comments about exams made by my colleague Andy Rutherford in his Weekender column last Saturday.

Those who denigrate modernday exams or who suggest they are ‘dumbed-down’ or not as difficult as they were in the past need to take a long hard look at themselves.

I know from experience how hard today’s young people have to work to achieve the grades they need to get to university or begin the careers of their choice.

They can only sit the exams that are put in front of them.

And those who see their hard work rewarded with good grades deserve praise.

Perhaps those who carp on about modern exams are simply under-achievers made bitter by their own lack of academic success?

County generate feelgood factor

THE sporting feelgood factor was in evidence at Rodney Parade on Tuesday night as Newport County played their first home game of the season, left.

A 4-0 win helped, of course, but there is a real buzz about County in their new home.

Being top of the league after two games is great and keeping that momentum going will be vital to ensuring the 2,600-plus who attended Tuesday’s game keep coming back.

There is a long way to go and probably still plenty of issues to be ironed out between the rugby and football clubs now sharing one ground.

But the potential for success on and off the field for the clubs and the city as a whole is enormous.

And the early signs are hugely encouraging.