ATHLETES and sport personalities across Barbados had the honour of accompanying the Queen’s baton during its Barbados leg of the Commonwealth Games’ Queen’s Baton Relay yesterday.
The relay, which moved off from Government House, began after Governor General Sir Elliott Belgrave handed the baton over to president of the Barbados Olympic Association, Steve Stoute.
As the baton was passed at each handover, representatives of national federations, schools and prominent sports personalities joined the relay, making it the biggest relay the island has ever seen.
The baton travelled through the environs of Government Hill, Ivy, My Lord’s Hill, Welches, Collymore Rock and Wildey, before coming to rest at the BOA headquarters.
Tiny tots, students and citizens alike lined the nation’s roads in anticipation of the baton’s passing. The major highlight on the route was at the Highgate handover, when legendary West Indian fast bowlers Sir Wesley Hall and Charlie Griffith were on hand to accept the baton.
This uniquely crafted baton represents the past, present and future of the Games, and left Buckingham Palace on March 13.
It is currently on a journey across the 52 Commonwealth nations, before it makes its final stop on the Gold Coast for the XXI Commonwealth Games on April 4, 2018, where Her Majesty will remove the message carried within the baton and read it, signifying the start of the Games.
The baton, which began its 388-day journey in Trinidad and Tobago, has already landed in Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, with the next stop in Dominica. (RA)