Commonwealth Queen's Baton Relay: Napier hosts NZ athletes for relay

Black Sticks hockey player Emily Gaddum, swimmer Emma Godwin, Commonwealth Games Chef de Mission Nigel Avery, and netball great Irene Van Dyk were all hosted in Napier for the Queen's Baton Relay.

A group of New Zealand athletes have been hosted in Napier for the Queen's Baton Relay- a symbol of the Commonwealth Games.

Commonwealth Games Chef de Mission Nigel Avery, netball great Irene Van Dyk, and Olympians - Black Sticks hockey Emily Gaddum, and swimming Emma Godwin were all in the Napier CBD on Saturday.

They were joined by a group of school-age basketballers from Hawke's Bay basketball shot hoops on Marine Parade.

They also visited the Napier pier viewing platform, took a slow drive down Emerson St in an Art Deco convertible car and visited the sculpture "A wave in time."

Her Majesty The Queen officially launched the Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay, a key milestone for the hundreds of New Zealand athletes working towards the upcoming Commonwealth Games, on October 8, 2021.

The Queen's Baton Relay marks the beginning of the Games campaign, with the Queen placing a special message inside the Baton which will visit all 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth over 294 days.

The Baton arrived in New Zealand on March 12, and will tour the country, connecting Commonwealth athletes with communities up and down New Zealand.

The New Zealand team will be represented by up to 240 athletes, competing in around 20 sports and seven para sports at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Birmingham 2022 will make global sport history by becoming the first major multi-sport event to award more medals to women than men.

The Games will be the largest sporting event in the UK since the London 2012 Olympic Games.