Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi arrives to fanfare in Belize City

BELIZE CITY: The Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi arrived to fanfare from Bahamas at the Phillip Goldson International Airport in Belize on Wednesday. Belize is the 47th country the Queen’s Baton has been to since the relay was launched at the Buckingham Palace on October 29. It is due to leave Belize on Friday for Bermuda after which it will travel to Canada.

According to The Belize Guardian, 10 members of Belize’s national cycling team hoisted the 2kg Baton high and in a scorching afternoon heat proudly led a motorcade as they rode with it from the Airport to the Stella Maris School on Princess Margaret Drive.

After a short ceremony on the Stella Maris Campus, cyclist Byron Pope handed the Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi to Michael Graham who won gold in the 200m race in the 2008 Special Olympics. Graham in turn handed it to Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers. She accepted it and said the Baton represents the heritage shared by Commonwealth countries.

“It is an honour for me to be handed over the Baton simply because this is a very prestigious event. It is an event that brings together all the Commonwealth countries. It is a camaraderie that we share, all of us speaking English in terms of all of us having a history and we share a lot in common,” she said.

On Thursday afternoon, the Mayor will formally hand the baton to Minister of Sports, Information, and Broadcasting Mr. Elvin Penner after a parade through the streets. It heads to Belmopan on April 9. On its way, it will stop briefly at the Youth Hostel at Mile 21. Thereafter, in Belmopan it will be presented to Mayor Simeon Lopez. Athletes will then relay it to the Governor General Sir Colville Young and British High Commissioner Patrick Ashworth.

Belize will be sending a contingent of 18 athletes to the Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi that will be held from October 3 to 14.

Northern Ireland delegation on reconnaissance trip to Delhi

NEW DELHI, 7 April 2010: A 10-member delegation of the Commonwealth Games Council for Northern Ireland, led by Chairman Mr. Robert McVeigh and Secretary-General Ms, Terry Crothers, is in the Capital on a two-day familiarisation visit in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, beginning here on 3 October.

Mr. McVeigh, who is a shooter himself and has been to Delhi a number of times, expressed confidence that the Games will be a big success. “I see the commitment from the Governments of India and Delhi and the Organising Committee for Delhi to produce infrastructure and a Games that will make the city a major player in the world of sport in the future,” he said.

The delegation, which arrived here on Tuesday, visited the Games Village, the headquarters of the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi and a number of Games venues. Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Chairman Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, MP, and other members of the top management met the group.

The delegation includes coaches Maggie Squires (archery), 1990 Commonwealth Games discus throw silver medallist and Northern Ireland Athletics High Performance Manager Jackie McKernan, Stephen Friel (boxing), Tom Causer (badminton), three-time Commonwealth Games cyclist Cormac Macann (Cycling) and Nelson Lindsay (swimming).

On Thursday, the CGCNA delegation will have meetings with some Functional Areas of the Organising Committee 2010 Delhi.

Northern Ireland, which won two silver medals in the Commonwealth Games in 2006, is targeting a number of disciplines for medals. “We will have around 80 athletes in a team of 120 and will look to return better off than we did from Melbourne. And one the reasons is that the timing of the Games suits us, coming as it does towards the end of our summer,” McVeigh said.

Mr McVeigh said the visit of the Queen’s Baton was a memorable event for Northern Ireland. “We were able to take the Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi to all areas of Northern Ireland. It came as a messenger of peace and it united the community. It was also an opportunity for us to promote sport at large and Commonwealth Games in particular,” he said.