Tunis 2021 Grand Prix sees IPC-supported athletes reaching new heights

A total of 24 athletes from 13 countries participate in World Para Athletics event thanks to NPC Development Programme 29 Apr 2021
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Juan Faith Jackson smiles
Sierra Leone's Para athlete Juan Faith Jackson was one of 24 athletes supported by IPC at Tunis 2021
ⒸAmina Gharred
By IPC

Para athletes supported by the International Paralympic Committee’s NPC Development Programme delivered top performances and earned valuable international experience at the season’s second World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Tunis, Tunisia.

Africa’s largest Para athletics competition, held between 18-20 March 2021, welcomed nearly 480 athletes from 59 countries. Among those were 24 athletes and 13 coaches supported by the NPCDP, representing 13 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs): Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo, DR of the Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo and Yemen.

The NPC Development Programme powered by IPC’s Worldwide Partner Toyota has been offering opportunities for NPCs around the world to have access to competitions and training opportunities.

Palestine’s Fadi Aldeeb, who won gold in the men’s discus throw F53/55, said: “We are not ‘just’ disabled, we are not a number in this world. We have a dream, we have a goal, we can work, we can do all things. There is no difference between us (people with disabilities) and another person.”

His compatriot Husam Azzam took bronze in the same event.

Gambia’s Malang Tamba had a competition to remember, securing gold in the men’s 200m T54 and bronze in the 800m T34/54, while Central African Republic’s Tristan-Gael Kangbazou claimed bronze in the men’s 100m T42/44/62/64.

Sierra Leone’s Juan Faith Jackson was another Para athlete who benefitted from the NPC Development Programme. “I want to thank the Paralympic Committee for supporting me and my country,” said Faith Jackson, who sealed bronze in the women’s javelin F40/46.

“I love javelin because it gives me courage. Me having one arm does not mean that I cannot throw.”

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Gambia's Malang Tamba
Malang Tamba won two medals in Tunis Ⓒ Amina Gharred

Burkina Faso’s Kouilibi Victorine Guissou -bronze in javelin F56/57- and Guinea Bissau’s Camnalai Da Silva Righna, guided by Mauricio Jacira, -bronze in 100m T11- were the two other IPC-supported female athletes who won medals in Tunis.

Eighteen athletes from 11 countries had competed in the season’s first Grand Prix in Dubai, UAE, through the IPC’s NPCDP.