XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland – July 23 to August 3, 2014 |15 January 2014

Seychelles leg of Queen’s baton relay next week

Seychelles will host the Queen’s baton relay in the countdown to the XX Commonwealth Games set for Glasgow, Scotland from July 23 to August 3.

The Queen’s baton will arrive here on Tuesday January 21 and leave on January 23.

The Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) has said it is delighted that Seychelles will be hosting the baton.

“The Seychelles leg of the relay has the potential to be watched by millions of people from all over the world thanks to the baton’s interactive web-based technologies and the media attention it is expected to generate. Our involvement in this exciting event provides the entire community with the opportunity to highlight and promote Seychelles to the rest of and the world,” said Socga secretary general Alain Alcindor.

The international sector route for the Glasgow 2014 Queen’s baton relay is a joint initiative of the Games’ organising committee in partnership with the Commonwealth Games Federation and locally with Socga.
 
A welcoming ceremony will be organised on Tuesday January 21 at the Seychelles International Airport at 1.20pm followed by an official cocktail ceremony at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Beach Hotel at 5pm.

The relay will take place on January 22 with the Queen’s baton going round Mahé and visiting different schools where schoolchildren will see the baton.

The baton will travel to all the nations and territories of the Commonwealth during its journey of around 248 days.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who is the head of the Commonwealth, set the baton on its way at a public launch ceremony at the Buckingham Palace on October 9, 2013.

She placed her message to the athletes inside the specially-designed baton. The message will not be read until the opening ceremony in July.

The baton was due to travel to 71 nations and territories in total, but part of the route has now been redrawn following The Gambia's decision not to take part in the Games.

The country's withdrawal reduces the number of nations and territories competing at the Games to 70.

One of the first stops for the Glasgow 2014 baton was Delhi, India, which hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

It will go on to visit every nation and territory of the Commonwealth, travelling through Asia, Oceania, Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe.

It will later travel the length and breadth of Scotland on the way to its final destination, the opening ceremony on July 23, 2014.

The relay, a Games tradition which shares similarities with the Olympic torch relay, is designed to unite the two billion citizens of the Commonwealth in a celebration of sport, diversity and peace.

The baton – made out of titanium, wood and granite – is expected to cover about 198,000km and will be the first baton ever to visit Rwanda.

It will spend an average of one to four days in each nation, with an extended duration of seven days in Wales, two weeks in England and 40 days in Scotland.

Glasgow 2014 chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin said: "The Queen's Baton Relay is a great tradition of the Commonwealth Games and a wonderful opportunity for Glasgow and Scotland to share our culture and heritage with the citizens of the Commonwealth.”