Queen’s Baton Relay tours Staffordshire landmarks

Hundreds of people turned out to watch the Queen’s Baton Relay as it toured the streets of Staffordshire in preparation for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The relay made its way through all areas of the county and included an event at Chasewater Country Park. The baton even took to the water on a wakeboard at Chasewater and with canoeists in Stone and braved a ride on Alton Towers’ rollercoaster Oblivion.

Other Staffordshire landmarks on route included the Roaches, Stafford Castle, the National Memorial Arboretum and Lichfield Cathedral.

Staffordshire has also hosted two of the Commonwealth Games events. On Wednesday August 3, the mountain biking event took place on the trails of Cannock Chase. The following day,  the cycling time trial event took in a section of South Staffordshire roads.

Tamworth Castle was named as an official Festival site, with a host of free activities taking place during the competition and live coverage of the Games on a large screen.

Some of Staffordshire’s top athletes also got the chance to represent their country. Swimmers Adam Peaty OBE and Greg Butler, athletics stars Ben Williams, Jazmin Sawyers and Shaun Burrows were all involved in the action. Cyclists Dan Bigham, Hayden Norris, Josie Nelson and Sophie Capewell and netballer Beth Cobden and para powerlifter Rebecca Bedford also took part.

Adam took gold in the 50 metres breaststroke, Dan got silver in team pursuit and Gemma got silver in Judo. Sophie won two medals, bronze in the Women’s 500m time trial and a silver medal in the Keirin.