Games baton in city on 19 January
Christchurch will play a part in a great sporting tradition early next year when the Queen’s Baton for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne is carried from the Square and around the Botanic Gardens by a relay of runners, riders and paddlers.
The City Council is organising the city leg of this international relay, to be held from 7.30am on Thursday, 19 January, and will be releasing more information about it closer to the event.
For the first time, the baton for the games in Australia is being taken to all 71 Commonwealth nations. It will arrive in Christchurch from Norfolk Island and, while in New Zealand, will be seen in Arthur’s Pass, Hokitika, Nelson, Wellington, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Gisbourne, Cambridge and Auckland before being flown to Australia on 24 January.
Games organisers say that by the time it reaches the stadium on 15 March after 366 days on the road, it will have been carried more than 180,000km. The first baton relay was organised for the Cardiff games in 1958.
- To find out where the baton is right now or to learn more about the Melbourne games, look online at www.melbourne2006.com.au
In October, the Melbourne 2006 Queen’s Baton was on a relay through Vanuatu. Former athletic champion Tawai Keiruan takes a leap as he carries the baton near Port Vila.
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