Samoa Sports Celebrate the Queens Baton Relay

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 18 FEBRUARY 2022: The Samoa Association of Sports & National Olympic Committee (SASNOC) yesterday hosted the Queen’s Baton Relay Celebrating the Commonwealth Games, Birmingham 2022.

The event was scaled down due to Covid-19 limitations. Compared to previous Queen’s Baton Relay that ran the length and breadth of the country, only four sports with selected runners carried the baton around the sports venues at the Tuana’imato Sports Complex ending with the official ceremony at the Samoa Cricket Oval grounds.

The Baton arrived last week and was handed by the Minister of Sports, Seu’ula Ioane to the SASNOC President, Pauga Talalelei Pauga and the baton passed through other athletes hands representing rugby, netball and weightlifting.

It was Samoa’s weightlifting gold medallist in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, Feagaiga Stowers who ran the Queens Baton to the Samoa International Cricket’s Oval and handed it to President, Su’a Geoffrey Clarke.

The baton was then returned the SASNOC President and displayed prominently during the official ceremony. The theme of the 2022 Commonwealth Games is “Games For Everyone.”

Australian High Commissioner Emily Luck and United Kingdoms’ David Ward with Samoan weightlifter Gold Medalist Feagaiga Stowers and the Queens Baton.

Great Britain is hosting the games this year and the British High Commissioner to Samoa David Ward was grateful to be part of the celebration.

“For the celebration of sports and sporting links, we in the commonwealth family do hope it will be a celebration of sports for everyone,” he said.

He said COVID-19 has created many barriers around the world and he congratulated Samoa for welcoming and putting up a fitting program for the baton.

As host of the last Games, Australia’s High Commissioner Emily Luck also congratulated Samoa and the athletes and hoped to pull the games back to Australia in the future.

Samoa represented in 12 sports
Of the 24 sports set down for the Commonwealth Games, Samoa plans to be represented in 12 sports which will include Weightlifting, Rugby 7’s, Netball, Cricket, Boxing, Lawn Bowling, Athletics, Swimming, Sailing and Wrestling.

Pauga said the other individual sports bodies are currently going through their qualifying sessions but it all depends on the COVID-19 restrictions.

Whilst most of the countries have slowly relaxed their restrictions, he said the concern raised by the sporting bodies is that Great Britain is one of the high risk countries with COVID cases.

Should Samoa be unable to send local teams, Pauga said they would rely on Samoan athletes residing abroad to represent Samoa.

Sending a Samoan team over will cost over a million talā.

All who participated in the Queens Baton Relay.