The GAPS programme (Gather, Adjust, Prepare, Sustain) is Commonwealth Sport’s Para athlete development and inclusion pathway programme, designed to provide Para athletes and coaches with access to skills, knowledge, and resources that aid their personal development and training as they prepare for competition, while driving hope and motivation and building pride and a strong sense of identity amongst the Para-athletes and Coaches.

GAPS was originally developed by Commonwealth Sport and Griffith University and has since been expanded in Africa, Asia, Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe, through partnerships with Stellenbosch University, University of Birmingham, and the University of the West Indies (UWI).

In April 2024, Commonwealth Sport announced the expansion of GAPS in the Americas and Caribbean region, with Jamaica hosting a camp for Para athletes and coaches.

GAPS athlete Elie Enock from Vanuatu competing at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

The inaugural Americas and Caribbean camp was attended by athletes and coaches from five Caribbean Islands: Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Falkland Islands. It was hosted and delivered by UWI Faculty of Sport in partnership with the Jamaica Paralympic Association and the Jamaica Commonwealth Games Association. The GAPS Americas and Caribbean Programme was funded by UK Sport, expanding their initial support of the GAPS Africa Programme. It is only through these strategic collaborations that GAPS has been able to thrive and expand across other Commonwealth Regions.

In June 2024, 21 nations and territories from across the Commonwealth were represented by more than 80 Para athletes and coaches at a Global GAPS camp in Birmingham, England.

Hosted by the University of Birmingham and supported by UK Sport, the camp was a direct legacy of the impact and partnerships created at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.  Para athletes from all over the Commonwealth came together in the sports of Para Powerlifting and Para Table Tennis for an intense week of training, competition and personal development.

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On the eve of the Paralympics in July 2024, President Chris Jenkins affirmed that Commonwealth Sport will continue to lead the way in fully integrating Para sport in future Commonwealth Games, saying, "Para sports is at the core of our ambition in creating a modern, flexible Commonwealth Games blueprint for the future that inspires athletes and delivers tangible legacy benefits and is in the interests of the entire Commonwealth Sport Movement.

‘’Our Para athletes are fully integrated into teams competing at the Commonwealth Games, with more Commonwealth countries than ever fielding Para athletes at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.’’

Jenkins praised Commonwealth athlete performances at the Paralympics and hailed the GAPS Programme coaches and athletes competing in Paris.

A total of 603 Commonwealth athletes competed at the Paralympics, with sixteen Commonwealth countries winning Paralympic medals that accounted for 17.4 percent of the total medals won.

Thirty-three athletes from 20 different nations who have attended the GAPS Programme competed in Paris – including Nigerian powerlifters Onyinyechi Mark who won gold and broke the World Record twice and Esther Mworgu who won silver with a Paralympic record.

President Jenkins said, ‘’I congratulate all Commonwealth Paralympic athletes for their dedication, commitment to overcome significant challenges and the competitive spirit shown in Paris. I was delighted to see so many athletes from the GAPS Programme competing, which brought home to me the value of investing in the development of coaches to build sustainable development pathways for Para athletes. I also congratulate all the coaches of Para-athletes – they make a fantastic and often unsung contribution to Commonwealth Sport.’’

Wheelchair racing was a focus of the Mauritius GAPS camp in November 2024

In November 2024, 51 Para athletes and coaches from 21 Commonwealth nations and territories attended the Global GAPS Camp in Mauritius.

Hosted by the Mauritius Commonwealth Games Association and supported by Stellenbosch University and UK Sport, the camp saw Para athletes from all six regions of the Commonwealth coming together in the sport of Para Athletics for an intense week of training, competition, and personal development.

WADA Africa, for the first time, supported the programme through the delivery of the anti-doping education session.

The camp had a special focus on wheelchair racing to support the growth of the event across the Commonwealth. Fourteen athletes and coaches focused on this event, with the support of Canadian coach Geoff Harris and Mauritian coach Jean Maria Bhugeerathee.

The GAPS programme was initiated in 2016 aimed at preparing Pacific Island athletes for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Since the inaugural camp, GAPS has expanded to other Commonwealth regions allowing more than 600 athletes and coaches in total to benefit from the programme.

On the International Day of Persons with a Disability, Commonwealth Sport wishes our Para athletes success in the future. We are committed in our continued support of Para athletes in their development as part of our vision to unite the Commonwealth through sport