BHC Bridgetown celebrates the Olympic Handover

Just as London, Birmingham and Cardiff were celebrating the handover of the Olympic Games from Beijing, we too in Bridgetown handed over a symbolic flag. But this was not just one official giving a flag to another. Over 100 runners took part in a relay which carried the Olympic Flag from the Chinese Embassy to the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA), and then on to the High Commissioner's residence, Ben Mar. The Chinese Ambassador, HE Liu Huanxing, handed the flag to the first group of runners - and so enthusiastic were many of the youngsters involved that they ran all of the 18 legs of the relay.

As in Beijing, at the BOA the flag was handed by the Chinese to a representative of the Olympic Association and then on to the British. Duncan Taylor, our High Commissioner, stood in elegantly for Boris Johnson!

Once the relay had brought the flag to Ben Mar, a few words from Duncan and the President of the Barbados Olympic Association (see attached photo as they stand flanked by the UK handover flag and the Olympic flag), and then over 200 people - runners, BHC staff and families, other heads of missions and their families - tackled some well deserved cold drinks, cucumber sandwiches and an appropriately decorated Olympic cake.