Host city | Birmingham, England |
---|---|
Countries visited | All 72 Commonwealth Nations |
Distance | 90,000 miles |
Start date | 7 October 2021 |
End date | 28 July 2022 |
Baton designer | Birmingham Open Media. Raymont-Osman Product Design, Maokwo, Kajul |
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2022 Commonwealth Games |
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The Queen's Baton Relay for the 2022 Commonwealth Games covered 90,000 miles and visited 72 Commonwealth nations and territories from Birmingham Airport. The journey began at Buckingham Palace on 7 October 2021 and ended in Birmingham during the opening ceremony on 28 July 2022. [1]
This relay marked the last time under Queen Elizabeth II prior to her death on 8 September 2022.
The Relay was organised by the Birmingham Organising Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, a private company based at One Brindleyplace. [2] The 14-strong board of directors includes Dame Louise Martin, Ellie Simmonds, OBE, Nick Timothy and Ama Agbeze, MBE. [3]
Designed and manufactured in the West Midlands by a collaborative team including Technologist Karen Newman of Birmingham Open Media (BOM), Designers and Engineers Kelly Raymont-Osman and Tom Osman of Raymont-Osman Product Design, artist Laura Nyahuye of Maokwo, and Engineer and Modelmaker Karl Hamlin of Kajul Ltd, the baton features a platinum strand along its length to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2022. [4] [1] Made using the traditional method of lost-wax casting, apart from the platinum the baton has purposely been made from non-precious metals and alloys: copper, aluminium and brass to represent the gold, silver and bronze medals awarded at the games. It includes a camera, a heart-rate monitor, an atmospheric sensor and lights that change each time the baton is passed from person to person. [5] [6]
The route of the Queen's baton relay took in all Commonwealth countries and territories during a 294-day schedule. [7] [8]
Nations & territories | Dates | Selected batonbearers |
---|---|---|
Nigeria | 16 October
17 October
| Abaiola Joy Jonathan, a student at Aduvie International School in Jahi, Abuja [9] |
The Gambia | 20 October
21 October
| Dawda Barry, a teenage sprinter [10] |
Sierra Leone | 23 October
| Julius Maada Bio, president since 2018 [11] |
Ghana | 26 October
27 October
| Former Sunderland footballer Asamoah Gyan [12] |
Cameroon | 29 October
30 October
| Ayuk Otay Arrey Sophina, a judoku who competed at the Tokyo Olympics [13] |
Kenya | 2 November
3 November | Faith Ogallo, a taekwondo champion and environmentalist [14] |
Uganda | 5 November
6 November
| Ritah Asiimwe, a para-badminton Olympian, and Olympic Boxer Shadir Musa Bwogi [15] |
Rwanda | 9 November
10 November
| Munezero Valentine, a member of the national volleyball team [16] |
Tanzania | 12 November
13 November | Filbert Bayi, Olympic middle distance runner [17] |
Malawi | 16 November
| Mary Waya, whose foundation tackles local issues such as child marriage and abuse [18] |
Zambia | 19 November
20 November
| Enock Mwewa, a 22-year-old climate justice activist who co-founded Environment Savers of Zambia [19] |
Mozambique | 23 November
24 November
| |
Mauritius | 27 November
28 November
| Noemi Alphonse, a para-athlete who carried the Baton around the Mahébourg waterfront [20] |
Botswana | 1 December
| Oganne Manengene, a female entrepreneur from the remote Northwest District [21] |
Saint Helena | 5 December
6 December
| Josh Herne, who lives off grid [22] |
South Africa | 8 to 11 December 2021 | Bongiwe Msomi, netball manager and coach at the University of Johannesburg [23] |
Namibia | 14 & 15 December 2021 | Emily James, a charity worker with Elephant Human Relations Aid (EHRA) [24] |
Eswatini | 17 & 18 December 2021 | Thabiso Dlamini, a Swazi boxer who competed at the Tokyo Olympics [25] |
Lesotho | 20 & 21 December 2021 | Michelle Tau, a 24-year-old taekwondo practitioner [26] |
Seychelles | 23 & 24 December 2021 | Laurence Hoareau and Dailus Laurence, wardens of the island of Praslin [27] |
Nations & territories | Dates | Selected batonbearers |
---|---|---|
Belize | 23 & 24 March 2022 | Chris Guydis, who makes canoes by hand [28] |
Guyana | 26 & 27 March 2022 | Walter Grant-Stuart, a firefighter and the country's first para-athlete [29] |
Grenada | 30 & 31 March 2022 | Anderson Peters, a world champion javelin thrower, and Paralympian Ishona Charles [30] |
The Bahamas | 3 & 4 April 2022 | Vashni 'Metro' Thompson and Austin Green, representing the Bahamian Special Olympics [31] |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 7 & 8 April 2022 | Velma Gardiner, a community activist [32] |
Cayman Islands | 12 & 13 April 2022 | The head boy and head girl of West End Primary School and Layman E Scott High School [33] |
Jamaica | 15 to 17 April 2022 | Shauna-Kay Hines, who represented Jamaica in taekwondo at the Tokyo Paralympics [34] |
Trinidad and Tobago | 19 & 20 April 2022 | Jehue Gordon, a champion hurdler [35] |
Barbados | 23 & 24 April 2022 | Brianna Holder, an international netball player, and West Indies cricketer Aaliyah Alleyne [36] |
Montserrat | 26 & 27 April 2022 | Students from Montserrat Secondary School [37] |
Dominica | 29 & 30 April 2022 | Adicia Burton, who represents Kalinago on the National Youth Council of Dominica and plays volleyball and cricket [38] |
British Virgin Islands | 3 & 4 May 2022 | Damir Dobson, a pupil at Francis Lettsome Primary School [39] |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 6 & 7 May 2022 | Kim Collins, a medal-winning sprinter at the 2002 Commonwealth Games [40] |
Anguilla | 9 & 10 May 2022 | Ursula Connor, a 108-year-old centenarian [41] |
Antigua and Barbuda | 13 & 14 May 2022 | Dwayne Fleming, a sprinter, and Ethan Greene, a swimmer [42] |
Saint Lucia | 16 & 17 May 2022 | Daren Sammy, the island's first international cricketer [43] |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 19 & 20 May 2022 | Darren Morgan and Marika Baptiste, two youth athletes [42] |
Bermuda | 22 & 23 May 2022 | Paula Wight of the Bermuda pilot gig club [44] |
Canada | 26 to 29 May 2022 | Briana da Silva, a student athlete at McMaster University [45] |
Falkland Islands | 7 & 8 June 2022 | Trudi Clarke, Chris Locke and Garry Tyrell, members of the islands' Lawn Bowls team [46] |
Nations & territories | Dates | Selected batonbearers |
---|---|---|
Pakistan | 27 to 29 December 2021 | Aqsa Dawood, a football player who represents Pakistan as a youth social ambassador for the Asian Football Federation [47] |
Maldives | 1 & 2 January 2022 | Hashim Aboobakur, an environmental activist [48] |
Sri Lanka | 4 & 5 January 2022 | Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, the first Sri Lankan to summit Mount Everest [49] |
Bangladesh | 7 to 9 January 2022 | Ruman Shana, an archer from Khulna District [50] |
India | 12 to 15 January 2022 | Vinisha Umashankar, the teenage inventor of a mobile, solar-powered ironing cart [51] |
Singapore | 17 to 19 January 2022 | Jen Goh, a golfer [48] |
Malaysia | 22 to 24 January 2022 | Samuel Isaiah, a teacher at a rural school for indigenous children from the Orang Asli population [52] |
Brunei | 26 & 27 January 2022 | A brigade of Gurkhas [53] |
Nations & territories | Dates | Selected batonbearers |
---|---|---|
Papua New Guinea | 30 & 31 January 2022 | Michael Somare Jr, son of the country's first prime minister [54] |
Solomon Islands | 2 & 3 February 2022 | |
Nauru | 5 & 6 February 2022 | Pupils from Nauru Secondary School [55] |
Fiji | 13 & 14 February 2022 | Rusila Nagasau and Jerry Tuwai, who captained Fiji's rugby sevens teams at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [56] |
Samoa | 16 & 17 February 2022 | Feagaiga Stowers, a gold-medal weightlifter [57] |
Tonga | 19 & 20 February 2022 | Siueni Filimone and Ronald Fotofili, two track-and-field athletes [57] |
Vanuatu | 22 & 23 February 2022 | Ati George Sokomanu, who was president from 1984 to 1989 [58] |
Kiribati | 25 & 26 February 2022 | Martin Moreti, the minister for Women, Youth, Sports and Social Affairs in the Cabinet of Kiribati [59] |
Tuvalu | 28 February & 1 March 2022 | The Captain Superintendent of Tuvalu Maritime School [60] |
Niue | 3 & 4 March 2022 | Feuina Tukuitoga Viviani and other children from Niue Primary School [61] |
Cook Islands | 6 & 7 March 2022 | |
Norfolk Island | 9 & 10 March 2022 | Pony Club member PJ Wilson riding a horse called 'Big Girl' [62] |
New Zealand | 12 to 15 March 2022 | Alexis Pritchard, a boxer, and hockey goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex [63] |
Australia | 17 to 20 March 2022 | Kelsey Cottrell, an international lawn bowler, and freestyle swimmer Lani Pallister [64] |
Nations & territories | Dates | Selected batonbearers |
---|---|---|
Cyprus | 9 October 10 October
| Kyriakos Ioannou, a high jumper who won medals at two Commonwealth Games: Melbourne 2006 and Glasgow 2014 [65] |
Malta | 12 October
13 October
| Thomas Borg, a para-athlete, [66] and Yasmin Zammit Stevens, a weightlifter [67] |
Gibraltar | 31 May & 1 June 2022 | Members of the Gibraltar Health Authority [68] |
England (1) | 2 to 6 June 2022 | Tom Matthews, a technician who organised a virtual relay during the COVID-19 lockdown to raise money for Mind [69] |
Jersey | 10 & 11 June 2022 | Morag Obarska and Jean Cross, two sports volunteers at Samarès Manor [70] |
Guernsey | 13 & 14 June 2022 | The Guernsey women's cricket team [71] |
Isle of Man | 16 & 17 June 2022 | Bill Dale, founder of the coastal clean-up group Beach Buddies [72] |
Scotland | 18 to 22 June 2022 | Erin Guild, a young fundraiser for people with the disease cystinosis [73] |
Northern Ireland | 23 to 27 June 2022 | John McErlane, co-founder of the dementia charity Dementia NI [74] |
Wales | 29 June to 3 July 2022 | Marc Falloon, an RNLI volunteer crewmember of the Holyhead lifeboats [75] |
England (2) | 4 to 28 July 2022 | Janet Inman, a non-executive director of the Volleyball England Foundation [76] |
The baton is due to travel around London from 2–6 June 2022 and the rest of England during July. [77]
English regions | Dates | Selected batonbearers |
---|---|---|
London (2 June: Battersea Power Station 4 June: Paternoster Square 5 June: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Royal Docks) | 2 to 6 June 2022 | Lemona Chanda, a Bangladeshi-born gender equality activist who promotes women's rights [69] |
South West England (4 July: The Eden Project, Plymouth, Exeter, the Isle of Portland, Poole, Bournemouth 5 July: Devizes, Bath, Bristol, Hereford, Gloucester and Cheltenham) | 4 & 5 July 2022 | Mark Richardson, who manages the Exeter food bank [78] |
South East England (6 July: Stoke Mandeville, Maidenhead, Eton, Windsor, Aldershot, Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight 7 July: Guildford, Tonbridge, Canterbury, Folkestone, Deal and Dover) | 6 & 7 July 2022 | Courtney Hughes, a student nursing associate who founded the Secret Santa charity in Didcot [79] |
East of England (8 July: Gravesend, Tilbury, Basildon, Southend-on-Sea, Maldon, Waltham Cross, Luton and Hemel Hempstead 9 July: King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Bury St Edmunds, Hinxton and Cambridge) | 8 & 9 July 2022 | Colin Jackson, a Welsh former sprinter and hurdler who also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing. [80] |
East Midlands (10 July: Northampton, Corby, Rutland, Leicester, Nottingham and Lincoln 11 July: Skegness, Boston, Grantham, Loughborough, Derby, Bakewell and Buxton) | 10 & 11 July 2022 | Shabaz Arshad, who chairs a grassroots football team in Derby [81] |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 12 & 13 July 2022 | Zoe Barratt and Colin Lea, two charity workers in York [82] |
North East England | 14 & 15 July 2022 | Medal-winning race-walker Johanna Atkinson [83] |
North West England | 16 & 17 July 2022 | Tony Howarth, an ultra-marathon runner from Lytham St Anne's who volunteers for the Samaritans [84] |
West Midlands | 18 to 28 July 2022 | Kyle Evans, a BMX rider who competes internationally [85] Paul Darke, a Wolverhampton artist and disability rights campaigner [86] |
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