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GC2018 Queen’s Baton Relay announced

Published Tue 07 Mar 2017

Excitement continues to build ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games with nominations for thousands of local legends to carry the Queen's Baton Relay across Australia in the lead up to the games now open.

The Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) is set to depart from London on March 13 with an extraordinary journey through the entire Commonwealth ahead of it. Nominations are now open for Australians to take part in this historic journey.

Across Australia 3,800 baton bearers are needed to share the dream of the ‘friendly Games’ as part of the QBR.

The Queen’s Baton will travel through Australia for 100 days from 25 December 2017. For dates and locations of the QBR click here.

Everyone who has had a significant role within their sporting community from former elite athletes to respected local sporting contributors will be considered to partake in the celebratory relay.

Olympic 110m hurdler Kyle Vander Kuyp vividly remembers his experience carrying the baton through his local community before the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

The two-time Olympian who made the 110m hurdles final in Atlanta also competed in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, finishing fifth in a world-class final.

“I was a Mitcham boy and on the relay I got to run into the Mitcham footy club which was a great experience,” Vander Kuyp recently told the Herald Sun.

Vander Kuyp returned from a six-year absence from the national team to compete at his home games and was satisfied just to partake in his heat in front of a packed MCG with family and friends in the crowd.

Olympic gold and silver medallist in the pool Brooke Hanson also remembers her leg of the baton relay as a young girl fondly.

“I have fantastic memories of my run with the Queen’s Baton in 1994, when I was the youngest member of the Australian swimming team, just after my 16th birthday,” Hanson explained.

“It’s a wonderful tradition and I can’t wait to see the people across Australia, young and old, share the Queen’s Baton journey.”

On a different level Melbourne University Athletic Club runner and coach Tony Brain is honoured to have been nominated to participate in this Commonwealth Games’ baton relay.

“The way the Baton Relay is being done is less about the person and more about the organisation they represent,” Brain said to the Herald Sun.

“It would be a lovely experience – the word that comes to mind is chuffed.”

Australia’s remarkable landscapes and diverse cultures will come to life as the Baton spends time in every state and territory on its way to the Games’ Opening Ceremony on 4 April 2018.

In Queensland the Baton will visit 83 communities from Saturday 3 March to Wednesday 4 April 2018.


For the first time in relay history, the Baton will explore Queensland’s northernmost reaches of Hammond Island in the Torres Strait. And in another first, the Baton will island hop to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

GOLDOC chief executive Mark Peters pointed out that the ultimate goal of the baton relay was to bring the community together in the lead-up to such an inclusive event celebrated around the world.

“We are very pleased to present the domestic leg of the Queen’s Baton Relay. Like the Baton design that we revealed in November last year, the Relay has been designed to be as inclusive and accessible to as many Australians as possible,” Peters said.

“GOLDOC consulted with all state and territory governments, hundreds of local authorities and many other organisations when determining Celebration Communities across Australia.

“Planning the Queen’s Baton Relay through the entire Commonwealth and every state and territory of Australia is a logistical feat that is testament to the first-class team of people we have here at GOLDOC.”

Baton bearers will be selected through a public nomination program and collectively take more than a million steps before the Baton arrives on the Gold Coast for the start of the Games.

From today until 15 May 2017, anyone can nominate a person who inspires them to be great. 

QUEENS BATON RELAY NOMINATIONS CLICK HERE

GC2018 are looking for people who:
 

  • Have achieved something extraordinary or inspired others to achieve something extraordinary; or
     
  • Have made a significant contribution to either sport, education, the arts, culture, charity or within their community; or
     
  • Have excelled, or aspire to excel athletically or personally; or
     
  • Contribute to a fun, friendly, vibrant and inclusive community;
     
  • Are at least 10 years old as at 25 December 2017; and
     
  • Are an Australian citizen or lawfully entitled to reside in Australia during the Relay period (25 December 2017 – 4 April 2018).