Before the event got underway, a session was held where the athletes decorated the Jamaican baton with custom transfers, each symbol chosen to reflect the nation’s culture and identity.
Micah McIntyre, a young gymnast and batonbearer, presented the decorated baton during the opening ceremony to Her Excellency Judith Slater, British High Commissioner to Jamaica. Also in attendance was the president of the Jamaica Commonwealth Games Association.
Four gymnastics clubs took part in the competition, renaming their teams after Commonwealth countries in celebration of the relay. The day combined sport and ceremony with storytelling and education, as the gymnasts learned about the significance of the Baton Relay and Jamaica’s place in the Commonwealth.
23 May brought a shift in focus to environmental action as the baton arrived at Cable Hut and Jamnesia beaches for a shoreline clean-up. Thirty-four participants, including athletes from surfing, handball, e-sports, combat sambo and mixed martial arts, joined family members and community volunteers for the effort.
Together they collected 109 pounds of waste, including 437 plastic items and 279 other discarded materials such as fishing traps, rope, metal, glass, cigarette butts and diapers.
Fourteen large bags of garbage were removed from a 1.5 kilometre stretch of coastline. As the clean-up ended, athletes from combat sambo and mixed martial arts gave a spontaneous demonstration and invited others to try out their sport, bringing a spirited close to the day's activity under the theme “Protect the Environment: Our Land, Our Duty, Our Future.”
24 to 26 May were quieter on the official schedule, though the baton continued to travel across the island, engaging with communities and supporting the spirit of the Games in more informal ways.
27 May concluded the relay at the offices of the Jamaica CGA in Kingston, where a workshop was held on the history of the Commonwealth Games and the significance of the King’s Baton Relay. The session was attended by 17 people, including student-athletes from swimming, their coaches and parents.
Each young swimmer had the opportunity to hold the baton and ask questions about the Games, with many expressing their ambitions to one day represent Jamaica. The baton, decorated five days earlier by young gymnasts, now carried with it the stories, hopes and energy of all those who had encountered it during its time in Jamaica.
