The Queen’s Baton Relay will be at the heart of the Active People Active Park’s ‘Festival of Sport’ this Sunday 8th June.
The all day event, running from 9:30am to 5pm, will be the biggest mass participation event to be held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and will feature 30 different sports including a dedicated table tennis area. Throughout the day the Baton will visit six zones of the Park that will stage exciting events organised by the London Legacy Development Corporation, where it will be carried by six local community heroes nominated for their contributions to sports, coaching, education and the community in London.
Among the baton bearers will be four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent and former boxer Barry McGuigan MBE who will help to lead the exhibitions with Pinsent abseiling down the ArcelorMittal Orbit with children’s charity UNICEF and McGuigan leading a world record attempt to set the greatest number of non-contact punches thrown by the general public.
The Table tennis activity will be based in and around the Timber Lodge cafe with an outdoor ping table, five Instant Ping Pong stations, a robot, and the offer of poly-bat table tennis. Throughout the day there will be a “challenge the robot” competition where the public will have the chance to win their very own instant ping pong pack.
Table Tennis England’s Development Officer for London, Tom Browne, said: “It’s fantastic to be part of the Active People Active Park programme as it allows us to showcase our sport within what is a huge drive to get people active, enthused, and using the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Some really good partnerships have been formed with other organisations and in the long run we hope to be able to set up a permanent club on the park as a destination for those who are engaged over the weekend and throughout the year.
“We will offer free play throughout the day and if there are any gaps in play we’ll offer coaching tips and demonstrations to anyone who’s attending.”
by Russell Moore (June 4, 2014)