London 2012: Torch's Cardiff visit seeks relay recruits

Disabled athlete Rhys Jones hopes to carry the Olympic torch in 2012

The London 2012 Olympic torch visits Cardiff later as part of a drive to encourage nominations for people to carry the flame on next year's relay.

An event at St David's shopping centre will promote the torch relay which comes to Wales next May.

Disabled athlete Rhys Jones, 17, from Clydach Vale, has had his name put forward by the Encephalitis Society.

"It is fantastic to be nominated to be in with a chance of carrying the torch," he said.

"I am 100% dedicated in reaching my goal of competing at a Paralympic Games and to be involved in London 2012 would be an unforgettable experience."

Rhys, who has suffered from encephalitis since he was two, won four athletics gold medals on his debut in the UK Disability Junior Championships in 2009.

500 runners

An elite athlete representing Wales, he is now training with the Great Britain Paralympic talent development squad, and has set his sights on taking part in the 2016 Rio games.

About 500 runners are expected carry the Olympic torch on its celebratory route across Wales when the relay visits the UK.

After starting in Land's End, its eighth stop and Welsh debut will be in Cardiff on Friday 25 May, 2012.

The torch relay will stop overnight at Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor before the bearers run across north Wales to Chester on Tuesday 29 May.