Earlier this week, students and athletes turned out in full force to celebrate sport, culture and unity during King’s Baton Relay Day — one of the signature events organised by the Commonwealth Games Association of Barbados, as the nation hosts the King’s Baton from March 29 to April 3, 2025.

For the first time this year, all 74 Commonwealth nations and territories have been given their own Baton—each one a blank slate to be decorated to reflect their unique culture. Barbados’ Baton, which arrived on March 12, was beautifully painted by a group of first-year students from the Barbados Community College enrolled in the Associate Degree in Visual Arts programme.

This spirit of national pride and creativity set the tone for what followed at the official Relay, which commenced at State House. There, the President of the Commonwealth Games Association of Barbados, Sandra Osborne, formally presented the Baton to the association’s patron, Her Excellency The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, President of Barbados, who is also patron of The Commonwealth Society of Barbados. In a symbolic gesture, Dame Sandra Mason passed the Baton to Barbados’ most senior and decorated Commonwealth Games athlete, Anton Norris, alongside 13-year-old triathlete Zajara Layne, a student of the Christ Church Foundation School.

Norris and Layne delivered the Baton to the gates of State House, signalling the official start of the Relay, which brought together baton bearers from several national sporting associations, including Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Shooting, Surfing, Triathlon, Weightlifting and Wrestling, along with representatives from the British High Commission Bridgetown. Joining them were students from Ann Hill School, Barbados Community College, Belmont Primary, Charles F. Broome Primary, George Lamming Primary, Happy Vale Montessori, Hill Top Primary, Luther Thorne Primary, Springer Memorial, and St. Winifred’s School.

Excitement filled the air from start to finish as students from each participating school lined the streets, cheering enthusiastically for their peers in the Relay.

Sandra Osborne, President of the Commonwealth Games Association of Barbados, expressed her delight at the strong turnout and the enthusiastic participation of students, athletes and the public in the Relay. She also praised the Barbados Community College’s Visual Arts students for their outstanding creativity and craftsmanship in decorating the Baton, noting that their work captured the spirit and essence of Barbadian heritage.

Reflecting on the Relay, she said, “This staging of the Glasgow 2026 King’s Baton Relay is a powerful reminder of the unity and shared spirit that bind all Commonwealth nations through sport. It was heartwarming to see so many young people and athletes engaging with the Baton’s journey, celebrating not just athletic excellence, but also the values of friendship, diversity, and hope that the Games represent.”

The relay concluded at the Commonwealth Games Association of Barbados’ Headquarters at the Olympic Centre, Garfield Sobers Sports Complex in Wildey, St. Michael, where all were treated to a cultural presentation by the Barbados Landship.

Over the weekend, in keeping with the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign, an initiative of Commonwealth Sport and the Royal Commonwealth Society (Commonwealth Society of Barbados), the Commonwealth Games Association of Barbados, in partnership with the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), hosted a beach clean-up at Long Beach, Christ Church, kicking off the six-day visit of the King’s Baton Relay in Barbados.

Over 30 volunteers representing national associations such as Boxing, Cycling, Equestrian, Tennis and Weightlifting joined forces with members of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Barbados, sending a strong message that preserving our natural spaces is a shared responsibility. In groups of three, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work as early as 6:00 a.m., combing the shoreline for litter and debris. By 10:00 a.m., 69 bags of garbage weighing 310 kilogrammes had been collected. Additionally, they conducted an underwater clean-up on Sunday, March 30, at Carlisle Bay, bringing attention to the health of the island’s underwater ecosystems.

Additional events surrounding the King’s Baton Relay featured photo opportunities, starting with sporting organisations, like road tennis, which were training at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 2. On Thursday, April 3, photos were taken with patrons at the popular ‘Q in the Community’ event at the Dash Valley Playing Field in St George.

His Majesty The King, Patron of Commonwealth Sport, officially launched the inaugural Commonwealth Sport King’s Baton Relay for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day, Monday, March 10, 2025. The Relay has been a tradition of the Commonwealth Games since it began in 1958 in Cardiff, Wales. This is the sixth time the relay has been held in Barbados.