Oceania Para athletes target Glasgow 2026 as GAPS camps start in Darwin

Key points

• Para athletes from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are taking part in GAPS (Gather, Adjust, Prepare, Sustain) camps in Australia as they prepare for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games this July.
• Four GAPS‑style events are being held in Darwin, Adelaide and the Gold Coast in May 2026, mixing training, classification and competition for Para athletics and Para powerlifting.
• Ten Para athletics athletes and coaches from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are training in Darwin for classification events ahead of end‑of‑week competitions.
• Para powerlifters and coaches from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands are attending a camp in Adelaide that focuses on specialised training, recovery and wellbeing.
• About 15 athletes in total are aiming to qualify for Glasgow 2026, with their participation in the GAPS pathway providing elite‑level training, competition and classification support.
• The GAPS project is run by Commonwealth Sport and Griffith University, with support from Commonwealth Games Australia and PacificAus Sports, and is designed to help Oceania nations reach qualification and podium targets for Glasgow 2026 and beyond.
• The final stage of the GAPS pathway will be a pre‑Games camp at the University of the West of Scotland in July 2026, bringing together top Para athletes from regional camps in Darwin and Stellenbosch.

Gold Coast (Glasgow Express) 15 May 2026 –Para athletes from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are using a series of GAPS‑series camps in Australia as their final preparatory phase before the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games kick off in July. As reported by Commonwealth Sport, the camps are being delivered through its GAPS (Gather, Adjust, Prepare, Sustain) programme in partnership with Griffith University and supported by Commonwealth Games Australia and PacificAus Sports, with the aim of helping Oceania participants meet qualification standards and secure competitive slots for the Games.

How are the GAPS camps structured in Australia?

According to Commonwealth Sport, the GAPS model is a multi‑stage, year‑round development pathway that brings together athletes and coaches from across the Commonwealth for intensive training, education and competition.

Ahead of Glasgow 2026, the project has expanded to include four GAPS‑style events in 2026 alone, staged in Darwin, Adelaide and the Gold Coast, each targeting different sports and performance outcomes.

As outlined by Commonwealth Games Australia, the camps are designed to

“deliver a high‑performance experience” centred on immediate goals such as participation, qualification and classification, while also building long‑term capacity for future events such as Brisbane 2032. As reported by Commonwealth Sport’s own news platform, the GAPS pathway is

“not only about achieving immediate goals around participation, qualification and classification for Glasgow 2026, but also aspiring to maximise the participation and success of Pacific athletes at Brisbane 2032.”

Which Para athletes are training in Darwin?

According to the Commonwealth Sport report titled Oceania GAPS athletes home in on Glasgow 2026, 10 Para athletics athletes and coaches from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu are based in Darwin for a GAPS‑style athletics camp.

As described by Commonwealth Sport, these athletes are focusing on training that prepares them for classification events, which are essential for determining eligibility and competition categories at the Glasgow Games.

As further detailed by Commonwealth Sport, the Darwin camp leads into a series of competition‑style events at the end of the week, giving athletes a chance to test their fitness, tactics and classification‑ready performances under Games‑like conditions.

The event is being framed as a selection‑style “regional” stage, from which roughly 35 athletes will be shortlisted for the final pre‑Games GAPS camp at the University of the West of Scotland in July.

What are Vanuatu and Solomon Islands Para powerlifters doing in Adelaide?

In parallel with the Darwin athletics camp, Para powerlifters and coaches from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands are attending a GAPS‑linked camp in Adelaide. As reported by Solomon Islands’ national sports‑news outlet Solomon Star News and by Commonwealth Sport, the Adelaide camp places a strong emphasis on

“specialised training sessions, recovery and wellbeing,”

reflecting the technical and medical demands of Para powerlifting.

As noted by SINIS (Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport) in promotional material shared via its social‑media channels, the GAPS environment gives athletes and coaches access to structured technical sessions, recovery protocols and education on anti‑doping and athlete‑wellbeing, all aligned with Commonwealth Games standards. Solomon Islands’

Para powerlifting federation has highlighted that the Adelaide camp is critical for helping their lifters refine technique and build resilience ahead of any final‑round qualification opportunities leading into Glasgow 2026.

Who exactly are the athletes involved?

Commonwealth Sport’s Oceania GAPS athletes home in on Glasgow 2026 dispatch does not publish a full athlete list, but it does specify that 15 athletes in total are striving to qualify for the Glasgow Games through the GAPS programme.

These 15 are drawn from the two Australian‑based camps (Darwin and Adelaide) and earlier‑year GAPS activities in Oceania, with Para athletics and Para powerlifting forming the core focus.

Earlier coverage by Solomon Star News on the GAPS series notes that the Solomon Islands contingent has included Para powerlifters such as Moffat Tolomae and Rose Lydia, alongside national Para powerlifting coach Leslie Ata, across previous GAPS‑style camps on the Gold Coast.

Commonwealth Sport’s 2025‑2026 GAPS material indicates that the current wave of camps is intended to build on those earlier cohorts, using the same athletes‑and‑coaches pipeline but shifting the emphasis towards qualification‑ready performances and final classification.

How are qualification and classification being handled?

As Commonwealth Sport explains in its GAPS background material, the pathway is explicitly designed to

“assist Oceania nations and territories in their pursuit of qualifying athletes to compete”

at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. For Para athletes, that includes supporting classification – the process by which athletes are assessed against international standards to determine their sport class and eligibility for specific events.

Writing for Commonwealth Sport’s own news site, the organisation’s communications team notes that the Darwin and Adelaide GAPS camps are

“set to deliver a high‑performance experience that aims to achieve immediate goals around participation, qualification and classification for Glasgow 2026.”

The final pre‑Games GAPS camp at the University of the West of Scotland is described as the “culmination” of this global programme, where around 35 athletes selected from regional camps such as Darwin and Stellenbosch will undergo elite‑level training and competition‑style preparation in the days leading up to the opening of the Games.

What role does Griffith University play?

Griffith University, based on the Gold Coast, has been a central delivery partner for the GAPS programme since its inception ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

As Commonwealth Sport’s media team describe it, the university has become a “home‑away‑from‑home” for more than 60 athletes and coaches from across Oceania during multi‑sport GAPS camps, providing access to high‑performance training facilities, sports‑science support and academic expertise.

In the Glasgow‑2026‑focused cycle, Griffith University continues to host GAPS‑style camps on the Gold Coast, running alongside the Darwin and Adelaide events to form a broader Australian‑based training cluster for Oceania athletes and coaches.

These experiences are intended both to raise technical standards and to embed learning about areas such as nutrition, recovery and athlete‑leadership, which Commonwealth Sport regards as “key elements of high performance.”

How is the GAPS pathway linked to Glasgow 2026 and beyond?

Commonwealth Sport’s planning documents and news releases make clear that the GAPS camps are not isolated training blocks but part of a ladder‑style pathway leading into Glasgow 2026 and extending towards Brisbane 2032. As stated in a 2025 Commonwealth Sport article on the GAPS programme, the project aims to

“achieve immediate goals around participation, qualification and classification for Glasgow 2026, but also the aspiration of maximising the participation and success of Pacific athletes at Brisbane 2032.”

University of the West of Scotland, which will host the pre‑Games GAPS camp in July 2026, has described its role as forming the “final stage” of this pathway, bringing together Para powerlifting and Para athletics athletes from the Commonwealth who have already passed through regional camps such as Darwin and Stellenbosch.

As the institution’s communications team explain, the Ayr campus and Riverside Sports Arena will provide an environment where athletes can “do their final training in preparation for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games,” mirroring the kind of high‑pressure, competition‑adjacent conditions they will face in Glasgow.

What is the broader sporting context for Para sports in Glasgow 2026?

As reported by Paralympics Australia and other Commonwealth‑aligned bodies, the Glasgow 2026 programme will feature events in six Para‑sports: athletics and Para‑athletics, swimming and Para‑swimming, track cycling and Para‑cycling, weightlifting and Para‑powerlifting, bowls and Para‑bowls, and 3×3 basketball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball.

This structure is intended to ensure that Para athletes appear across the same sports and venues as their able‑bodied peers, reinforcing the “para‑inclusive” model the Commonwealth Games Federation has promoted in recent cycles.

Para‑athletics at Glasgow 2026 will be held at Scotstoun Stadium and run from 23 July to 2 August, with the combined Para and able‑bodied athletics schedule opening on 27 July and concluding on 1 August.

Para powerlifting events are scheduled for the same period, with competition locations in Glasgow city expected to follow the same multi‑sport‑venue model as previous Commonwealth Games.

Background of the development

The GAPS (Gather, Adjust, Prepare, Sustain) programme was originally established by Commonwealth Sport and Griffith University ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games as a targeted high‑performance development pathway for small Commonwealth nations and territories, particularly in Oceania.

The initiative grew out of a recognition that many Pacific island nations lacked the infrastructure, coaching depth and international‑competition exposure needed to consistently reach qualification standards at major Games.

Since 2018, the GAPS model has been expanded to include multiple sports and multiple host locations, with funding and technical support from partners such as Commonwealth Games Australia, PacificAus Sports and Paralympics Australia.

Each camp is structured around core high‑performance themes: tailored training, biomechanical and technical refinement, recovery protocols, nutrition education and athlete‑wellbeing, alongside formal and informal classification support for Para athletes.

The current phase of GAPS activity in 2026 – including the Darwin, Adelaide and Gold Coast camps – is explicitly framed as the “final push” for Oceania athletes aiming to qualify for Glasgow 2026, with the final pre‑Games camp at the University of the West of Scotland acting as the last collective training and competition‑style environment before the Games open.

How might this development affect different audiences?

For athletes and coaches in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, the GAPS‑2026 pathway could significantly improve both their chances of qualifying for Glasgow and their readiness to compete once they arrive. The combination of targeted training, classification support and competition‑style exposure in Darwin and Adelaide may help them refine performances, manage injury risk and gain confidence in the technical and regulatory environment of a major Commonwealth Games.

For national sports federations and national Olympic committees in Oceania, the camps provide a low‑cost, high‑leverage mechanism to accelerate athlete development without having to build full‑scale domestic high‑performance centres. By relying on GAPS‑backed overseas camps, these nations can access world‑class facilities, coaches and sports‑science support for key athletes, while also strengthening their own coaching capacity through shared learning with Australian and Commonwealth‑level experts.