media_artricles :: 2014

Queen’s baton arrives next month

T&T Commonwealth medalists and Olympians, shot putter Cleopatra Borel and shooter Roger Daniel were selected as T&T Commonwealth Organisation ambassadors for the four-day local leg of the symbolic Queen’s Baton Relay, from March 11-14.

Two days after the baton’s arrival, a relay will take place from St Joseph Secondary, St Joseph, to the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, with a different hand exchanging the baton every kilometre.

Students, T&T Commonwealth Games athletes and representatives from various national sporting organisations (NSO) are expected to fill the majority of participants.

The local event is being organised by co-ordinators Kwanieze John and Jeannette Small. John is also chef-de-mission for the August Youth Olympic Games, while Small is an ambassador.

The relay was launched on October 9, from Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II. It then left Glasgow, Scotland, the host venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, then to India, the first Commonwealth nation. In total, 70 countries will host the baton in a 41-week period leading up the games.

Several activities have been planned for the four-day event, including a trip to Tobago, courtesy of the local Commonwealth Organisation’s partnership with the Tobago House of Assembly and the British High Commission.

The baton will arrive with a delegation on March 11, including a team from the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC, following which a private function will be held at the British High Commission. A day later, the baton will go to Tobago, following a return to Trinidad a day later, where the relay event will take place. The baton will then leave for St Vincent on March 14.

The dates and events for the local leg were announced at a media briefing, at the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) head office, Port-of-Spain, where TTOC president Brian Lewis lauded congratulated John and Small’s involvement as co-ordinators.

Lewis said his focus on the Commonwealth Games in the youth participation, signified by the chosen co-ordinators of the T&T leg, John and Small, both of whom are young and enthusiastic athletes and administrators.

He said the baton relay, too, had particular significance in T&T given the 16 principles of the Commonwealth Charter signed by Commonwealth nations in 2012.

According to John, President Anthony Carmona and First Lady Reema Carmona have endorsed the event.

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