Alhagie Dodou Joof better know as Capi, Secretary General of the Gambia Athletics Association (GAA) and treasurer of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), was last Saturday voted the 2007 Most Outstanding Sports Personality in the annual Sports Banquet and Awards ceremony organised by the Gambia National Olympic Committee.

Born in Banjul, The Gambia, Capi Joof was a household name and truly a National hero, who was a force to be reckoned with at the Track, indeed an outstanding Sprinter.

He was the National Champion Record Holder in the 100m and 200m respectively from 1968 to 1990 with a record of 38 years.

He was among the finalist in the 200m in the Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland and a Medalist in the Regional Championships in Dakar called La Semaine Nationale de la Jeunesse in Senegal in 1970.

After these brilliant Athletics achievements, Dodou Joof then retired from active competitions, and opted to become an Athletics Coach and Administrator, and subsequently was awarded a Coaching Scholarship in Loughborough, England.  He holds a diploma in Track and Field from Loughborough, England and D.L.V. in Germany and attended several courses and seminars in Sports Management.

He received many National and International Awards in the field of Athletics and Sports generally.

In 1988 he was awarded a gold medal by Striders International of USA and Young Angles of South Korea.

In 1989 he received a certificate from the Secondary and Primary Schools Federation in recognition of outstanding contribution to the development of Schools Sports.

Presently he serves as Technical Director for the West Africa Region 2 and also served as Technical Delegate for the GNOSC at the Commonwealth Games and the Atlanta Olympic Games.

In 1995 he was appointed I.T.O for The All African Games in Harare, Zimbabwe and also Vice President of The West African Cycling Federation in Burkina Faso. 

In 2003 in Cairo, Egypt, he was elected Treasurer General of the African Athletics Confederation and member of the African Jury of Appeal.  He was also elected a member of the Afro Asian Athletic Council in India in 2004.

In 2004 he was elected President of The Gambia Olympian Association and in Geneva of that year he was elected as adviser to the African Olympian Association.

In 2005 in Helsinki, Finland, he was awarded the International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) veteran pin in recognizance of his long and meritorious service to World Athletic.

In April 2007 in Dakar, Senegal he was re-elected unopposed Treasury of the Confederation of African Athletics and a member of Jury of Appeal.

He is to serve as Jury of Appeal in the fourth coming All Africa games in Algeria in July 2007.

Mr. Joof is an excellent Sports Administration, who uses his own resources to ensure that Athletics he loves so much is properly practiced and admired.  He is knowledgeable and has the technical competence in all the IAAF rules and regulations.  He is called upon by Athletics Associations in the Sub region for advice and support in their programmes.

He is classified by his counterparts as an asset to Gambia and someone Gambia should be proud of.