Over the Easter Holiday weekend, the Queen's Baton Relay was successfully hosted by the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC).
The event is similar to the Olympic Torch Relay, and is held in the year of the Commonwealth Games. The baton is used to carry a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II. The relay traditionally begins at Buckingham Palace in London, England, as a part of the city's Commonwealth Day festivities. The queen entrusts the baton to the first relay runner.
At the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, the final relay runner hands the baton back to the Queen or her representative, who reads the message aloud to officially open the games. The Bahamas was the 56th country that the baton travelled to, in preparation for the games, scheduled for July 23 to August 3, in Glasgow, Scotland.
"On Friday, the baton arrived from the airport from a Commonwealth country, and on Saturday, we began the journey from Arawak Cay to the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. Athletes from various federations were responsible for the moving of the baton," said BOC President Wellington Miller.
The federations that participated in the relay run on Saturday were boxing, track and field, volleyball, baseball, taekwondo, judo, basketball, the special olympics body and tennis. During the festivities there was a ceremony at Government House where the baton was passed to Tommy Robinson's daughter.
The Bahamas received quite a bit of publicity over the holiday weekend, as a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news team is accompanying the baton during its travels. There was also a short feature story done on Bahamas Judo Federation (BJF) athlete Cynthia Rahming. The footage will be aired on BBC World News this Wednesday.
The network is the world's largest broadcast news organization, in terms of employees, and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service maintains 44 foreign news bureaus and has correspondents in almost every country.
"This shows the kind of impact sports has on a country. Because of sports The Bahamas will get a chance to be advertised to millions of people during the broadcast. They were able to interview several athletes from the various sporting organizations," said Miller.
"The people from the Commonwealth Games as well as BBC's representatives were pleased with the reception that they received upon entering the country and throughout their stay. We as a people are very hospitable, very welcoming, and that was on full display during the passing of the baton."
The BOC is expected to field a sizable team, with The Bahamas being represented in a number of disciplines at this year's Commonwealth Games.

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