Monday, 30th January 2006 (4581 views)

The 2006 Commonwealth Games baton will be adorned with gold, the Herald Sun reports.

The 90 cm-long, 1.5 kilogram baton, which will be carried 180,000 kilometres around the globe before it reaches Melbourne, has just been unveiled by Australian industrial designer Paul Charlwood.

The hi-tech baton will be coated with both 24-carat gold and magnesium.

Mr Charlwood selected gold for its prominence in the history of Victoria – the Australian state in which Melbourne is located.

Magnesium features in the design courtesy of its status as "the metal of the future".

Behind the metallic veneer lies a host of gadgetry that will enable the baton's progress to be tracked on the Melbourne 2006 website.

The baton is kitted out with circuitry, chips, satellite transmitters, microphones and video cameras.

It also contain an "accelerometer" that shows the speed and direction in which it is travelling.

Mr Charlwood is confident his design, which takes the form of an arching athlete, fits within his brief of creating an interactive design that also had that added wow factor.

 

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