By Nick Butler

Gambian 800 metres wheelchair racer Isatou Nyang of Gambia competing during the women's T54 heats at London 2012 ©Getty ImagesA two-day "capacity building" training programme organised by the Gambia National Paralympic Committee (GNPC) in collaboration with the International Paralympic Committee has concluded in Bakau.


The programme, aimed at Executive Committee members, technical and voluntary staff, attracted a total of 15 participants, all lectured on topics including how to go about executing their responsibilities, particularly with regard to resource mobilisation.

Speaking afterwards, GNPC President Sulayman Colley told Gambia's Observer Sports newspaper the training was, among other things, geared towards building the capacity of the Committee members in order to develop sports in the country.

GNPC secretary general Sainey Camara, who helped supervise the course, has just returned from a training course in Germany, and, while urging on participants to make best of the knowledge gained, he asked them to now disseminate the knowledge to others.

The training was very "educative and interactive", he said, while thanking the participants for the "seriousness" shown during the two-days training.

This particularly involves the athletes' pathway to the Rio 2016 Paralympics, with the West African nation looking to improve upon its Paralympic debut in London, where wheelchair racers Damba Jarju and Isatou Nyang each competed in two track athletics events.

Each was eliminated in the heats of both of their events. 

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