The Agitos Foundation Sessions are part of the Road to Toronto 2015 campaign and will see specially-selected participants take part in a series of workshops across five days beginning tomorrow and running until April 21.

The aim of the workshops, which are a mixture of theoretical and practical sessions, are to support the development of Para-sport on the continent and will see delegates undertaking coaching courses for athletics, swimming and goalball while others will participate in classification workshops for swimming, athletics and visually impaired sports.

They will be offered in Spanish together with simultaneous translation and will take place prior to the II Caixa Loterias Athletics and Swimming Open at the Olympic Training and Research Centre in São Paulo.

"These workshops are designed to improve the grassroots of Para-sport in the Americas ahead of next year's Parapan American Games in Toronto, which in turn will have a beneficial effect in the lead-up to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games," said director of the Agitos Foundation, Georg Schlachtenberger.

"Good coaching and classification is essential to the success and growth of Para-sport in this continent and we were delighted that so many people applied to take part in the workshops.

"The next two years are hugely important for the growth of the Paralympic Movement in the Americas and we are extremely grateful to all of our partners, especially TO2015, for their tremendous support."

Brazil topped the medals table at the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico ©AFP/Getty Images



The Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games run from August 7 to 15 and will provide opportunities for qualification for Rio 2016.

Around 1,600 athletes from 28 National Paralympic Committees are expected to compete across 15 sports at the Games.

Commenting on the workshops, Toronto 2015 chief executive Saäd Rafi, said: "[Toronto 2015] is proud to support the development of Para-sport in the Americas alongside the Agitos Foundation.

"The number of coaches and classifiers trained in swimming, athletics and goalball in São Paulo in the first-ever workshop of its kind will lead to greater participation of athletes with a disability within the region.

"This is extremely motivating as we continue to gear up for the biggest ever Parapan Am Games coming to Toronto in 2015."

This week's workshops are being run in partnership with Toronto 2015 organisers, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics, IPC Swimming, the International Blind Sports Federation and the Brazilian National Paralympic Committee.

There are plans to hold further workshops later this year targeting countries from the Caribbean and Central America.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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