Queen’s Baton sets off a 190,000 km journey from London

Queen Elizabeth II, Indian President Prathiba Patil, Indian Sports Minister M.S. Gill and CWG2010 Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi at the launching of the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 in London on Oct.29, 2009.
PHOTO: CWG2010

LONDON, October 29, 2009: A delightful India aroma wafted across the Buckingham Palace this morning as the Queen Elizabeth II launched the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010, 339 days before the start of the XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi, by placing her message to the athletes in an exquisite jewellery box in a handcrafted Baton.
A brief but delightful Indian cultural pageant preceded the formal ceremony in the packed forecourt of the Palace before Commonwealth Games Federation President Mr Michael Fennell carried the Baton to the Queen so that she could place her message in the Baton. The Queen then handed over the Baton to President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
The President then passed on the Baton to Sports Minister Dr. M.S. Gill who gave it to Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi who in turn handed it to the first Batonbearer, Abhinav Bindra. The Olympic air rifle champion then set off on a walk to the Palace Gates where he was met by Lord Sebastian Coe.
Bindra and Coe ran three laps of the Queen Victoria Memorial as the Baton changed hands and involved the likes of Kapil Dev, Sania Mirza, Dame Kelly Holmes, Vijender Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Milkha Singh, Misha Grewal Soni, Monty Panesar, Sue Gilroy, Karnam Malleswrari, Dilip Tirkey and Gurbachan Singh Randhawa.
The last two then drove off in a Delhi2010 branded London Taxi to signal the start of an amazing journey that will see the Baton travel 190,000km before it reaches the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi during the Opening Ceremony of the Games on October 3, 2010. It will have visited all 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.
- Media Release

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