The KBR in Europe: The Road to Glasgow
The King's Baton Relay crossed Europe through cities, islands, schools and coastlines before reaching Scotland for the final leg of its journey to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Alongside the sport, communities in eight nations and territories used the Baton's visit to collect waste from beaches and waterways as part of the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign, a Commonwealth Sport initiative tackling marine plastic pollution in the countries the Relay passes through.
Sea Scouts led the Baton along Gibraltar's Main Street to open the European leg, with established athletes walking beside young sportspeople as crowds gathered. The Commonwealth Games hold particular importance for Gibraltar as one of the few major multi-sport events at which the territory competes under its own flag. Local artist Jupp's Baton artwork carried a tribute to cyclist Sam O'Shea, who represented Gibraltar at Birmingham 2022 and died in 2025.
Malta used the visit to link Glasgow 2026 with its own preparations to host the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2027. Schoolchildren competed at the Marsa Sports Complex, where young athletes from across the Commonwealth will gather next year, before the Baton crossed the Grand Harbour aboard a traditional Maltese boat and travelled on through Valletta and Gozo. At St Julian's, divers, athletes and volunteers pulled more than 1,000kg of waste from the sea, shoreline and surrounding land.
“Seeing the Baton travel from school playgrounds to shoreline clean-ups, and from athletic tracks to the streets of Gozo, has shown what the Commonwealth stands for at its best, connection, participation and a shared sense of purpose,” said Maltese Olympic Committee President Julian Pace Bonello.
Larnaca, Paphos, Limassol, Nicosia and Ayia Napa each hosted the Baton in Cyprus. Schoolchildren at Olympic House tried sports from the Glasgow 2026 programme. The Baton also visited True Heart Café, where people with autism work as permanent members of staff, and volunteers joined a beach-clean at Mavrokorona Beach.
Sports clubs and communities across England carried the Relay on from a launch in the City of London. Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds joined volunteers at West Kirby Beach.
“It's about the community,” said former Olympic and two-time Commonwealth champion Dame Denise Lewis. “It's about the people, the hands that actually connect to that Baton as it passes through different places.”
Jersey's route reflected the sports its 21-strong team will compete in at Glasgow, with swimmers, athletes, judoka and bowlers carrying the Baton through clubs and schools. The week closed with parkrun, a children's triathlon and the International Motoring Festival.
Sport, literature, music and coastline all featured in Northern Ireland. Lady Mary Peters helped launch the visit at Finaghy Primary School, and the Baton later travelled to Seamus Heaney HomePlace, one of the inspirations behind its design. A traditional music session at The Sunflower added another distinctly local voice to the visit, while stops in Portaferry, Ballyholme and Bangor turned attention to the marine environment.
Lifeboat, horse tram and electric railway carried the Baton across the Isle of Man. Around 50 former Commonwealth competitors carried it at Government House, linking the island's sporting past with those preparing for Glasgow, while disability and community organisations staged their own Commonwealth Games at Centre 21. More than 1,200 people took part across the six days.
The Welsh route included some of the Relay's most adventurous stages. The Baton arrived from the water at Whitmore Bay, then travelled by boat, on foot, by RIB and on a zip-wire at Penrhyn Quarry, passing through the Elan Valley and along the Menai Strait during celebrations marking 200 years of the Menai Suspension Bridge. At Porthdinllaen, young volunteers searched for shark and skate egg-cases and learned about efforts to protect seagrass and marine habitats.
Four sixth-form students designed Guernsey's artwork, sharing it with around 1,500 fellow students before Glasgow-bound athletes carried the Baton through boxing, swimming and bowls and volunteers gathered for a beach-clean at Pembroke.
Nine nations and territories, nine different landscapes and nine Batons, each carrying the identity of the community it represented on the road to Glasgow.
Scotland is the 74th and final nation and territory on the route, where all 74 Batons will come together at the Glasgow 2026 Opening Ceremony on 23 July.
