GC2018 countdown continues with Queen’s Baton Relay in Gladstone region
Gold Coast, March 25 (NsNewsWire) — The countdown to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) continues as the Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) celebrated the morning of Day 89 in Gladstone, Miriam Vale and 1770.
With just 11 days remaining until the Opening Ceremony on April 4 at Carrara Stadium, athletes and team officials from across the Commonwealth are in the final stages of preparation, eagerly awaiting the start of the Games.
One of those athletes is Gladstone’s Tia-Clair Toomey, regarded as one of the fittest women in the world, who will represent Australia at GC2018 in Weightlifting.
With family, friends and fans lining the street near Gladstone’s town centre, Toomey was greeted with applause as fellow Batonbearer and young disability advocate Ruby Lawler passed her the Queen’s Baton.
“The nerves are starting to come with only 11 days to go till the Games, and only a couple until I enter the Village on Monday. I lift on Friday [6 April], so I’ve still got a little bit of time to prepare and mentally psych myself into it,” Toomey said.
“I’m just really looking forward to it [GC2018], getting into the Village and be surrounded by my Weightlifting team and just enjoying the whole experience.
“I’m definitely going to put everything out there when it’s my turn to lift, and give it my absolute best whilst representing everyone in Australia the best that I can.”
Continuing south to Miriam Vale, a sprinkling of rain didn’t dampen spirits with plenty of locals coming out to cheer on on their local heroes including 16-year-old Batonbearer Jamie Hartwig.
“I was nominated for being a positive role model in the community, I have been school captain for the last four years at a school with 90 students from Prep to Year 12, also I’ve been sportsperson of the year a couple of times,” she said.
“When you hear the numbers of the Relay and the people involved, it’s just crazy that I get the chance to be part of it all and carry the Queen’s Baton, it’s a very proud moment for me.”
The QBR then travelled onto the town of 1770 where a bright pink LARC, an amphibious vehicle, transported Batonbearer Maxine Brushe for a splash down at Eurimbula Beach.
Finishing the day in Bundaberg, the Queen’s Baton stopped at the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, the Hinkler Hall of Aviation and travelled on a miniature Australian Sugarcane Railway train.
