Deaflympics Games
Comité International des Sports des Sourds
Deaflympics Logo
MottoPER LUDOS AEQUALITAS (Equality through sport)
First event1924 (1924) in Paris, France – 1924 Summer Deaflympics[1]
Occur every4 years
Last event2021 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil2021 Summer Deaflympics (Summer)
2019 in Province of Sondrio, Italy2019 Winter Deaflympics (Winter)
Next event2024 Winter Deaflympics, Ankara-Erzurum, Turkey
PurposeProvision of opportunities for deaf persons to participate in elite sports
Websitewww.deaflympics.com
www.ciss.org

The Deaflympics, also known as Deaflympiad (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are a periodic series of multi-sport events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at which Deaf athletes compete at an elite level. Unlike the athletes in other IOC-sanctioned events (the Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Special Olympics), athletes cannot be guided by sounds (such as starting pistols, bullhorn commands or referee whistles).[2] The games have been organized by the Comité International des Sports des Sourds (CISS, "The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf") since the first event in 1924.

History

The Deaflympics are held every four years, and are the longest running multi-sport event in history after the Olympics.[3] The first games, held in Paris in 1924, were the first ever international sporting event for athletes with a disability.[4] The event has been held every four years since, apart from a break for World War II, and an additional event, the Deaflympic Winter Games, was added in 1949.[5] The games began as a small gathering of 148 athletes from nine European nations competing in the International Silent Games in Paris, France, in 1924; now, they have grown into a global movement.[2]

Officially, the games were originally called the "International Games for the Deaf" from 1924 to 1965, but were sometimes also referred to as the "International Silent Games". From 1966 to 1999 they were called the "World Games for the Deaf", and occasionally referred to as the "World Silent Games". From 2001, the games have been known by their current name Deaflympics (often mistakenly called the Deaf Olympics).[5]

To qualify for the games, athletes must have a hearing loss of at least 55 dB in their "better ear". Hearing aids, cochlear implants, and the like are not allowed to be used in competition, to place all athletes on the same level.[5] Other examples of ways the games vary from hearing competitions are the manner in which they are officiated. To address the issue of Deaflympians not being able to be guided by sounds, certain sports use alternative methods of commencing the game. For example, the football referees wave a flag instead of blowing a whistle; on the track, races are started by using a light, instead of a starter pistol. It is also customary for spectators not to cheer or clap, but rather to wave with both hands, the Deaf form of applause.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) banned athletes from Russia and Belarus from that year's Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul, Brazil.[6]

Host nations and cities

To date, the Summer Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 22 cities in 18 countries, but by cities outside Europe on only six occasions (Washington, D.C. 1965, Los Angeles 1985, Christchurch 1989, Melbourne 2005, Taipei 2009 and Caxias do Sul in 2022). The last summer games were held in Samsun, Turkey in 2017. The Winter Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 16 cities in 11 countries. The last winter games were held in Sondrio Province, Italy in 2019. The next summer games are scheduled to be in Caxias do Sul, Brazil between 1 May to 15 May 2022 and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 20 and 30 October 2022.

The 2011 Winter Games scheduled to be held in Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia were cancelled due to the lack of readiness by the organizing committee to host the games.[7][8] The International Committee of Deaf Sports filed a criminal complaint against the Slovak Deaflympics Organizing Committee and its president, Mr. Jaromír Ruda.[9] The criminal complaint demands reimbursement of the funds that were transferred to the Slovak Deaflympics Organizing Committee from national deaf sports federations, to cover hotel accommodations and other Deaflympics-related expenses.[9] According to the Slovak newspaper, SME, "Jaromír Ruda, head of the Slovak Organising Committee, [is] a champion of promises and someone who is accused of a 1.6 million Euro Deaflympics-related fraud".[10] In a letter to the United States Deaflympians, International Committee of Sports for the Deaf ICSD President Craig Crowley expressed "his deep apologies for the cancellation of the 17th Winter Deaflympics".[11] Currently, the Slovak Deaflympic Committee and the Slovakia Association of Deaf Sportsmen Unions have been suspended.[12] In 2013 the Special Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica sentenced Ruda to a prison term of 14+12 years for defrauding €1.6 million that should have been used for Winter Deaflympics.[13]

The host cities and National Deaf Sports Associations for all past and scheduled games are as follows:[4][14]

List of Summer Deaflympics hosts

Games Year Host Opened by Dates Nations Competitors Sports Events Top Nation
Total Men Women
1 1924 France Paris, France Gaston Doumergue 10–17 August 91481471631  France
2 1928 Netherlands Amsterdam, Netherlands Wilhelmina of the Netherlands 18–26 August 1021219814538  Great Britain
3 1931 Germany Nuremberg, Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg 19–23 August 1431628828643  Germany
4 1935 United Kingdom London, Great Britain George V 17–24 August 1222117843541  Great Britain
5 1939 Sweden Stockholm, Sweden Gustaf V 24–27 August 1325020842643  Great Britain
6 1949 Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark Frederik IX of Denmark 12–16 August 1439134249751  Great Britain
7 1953 Belgium Brussels, Belgium Baudouin of Belgium 15–19 August 1647343241757  Germany
8 1957 Italy Milan, Italy Giovanni Gronchi 25–30 August 2563556570969  Soviet Union
9 1961 Finland Helsinki, Finland Urho Kekkonen 6–10 August 246135031101094  Soviet Union
10 1965 United States Washington, D.C., United States Lyndon B. Johnson 27 June – 3 July 27687575112985  Soviet Union
11 1969 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Belgrade, Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito 9–16 August 33118996422512105  Soviet Union
12 1973 Sweden Malmö, Sweden Gustaf VI Adolf 21–28 August 3111168932231197  United States
13 1977 Romania Bucharest, Romania Nicolae Ceauşescu 17–27 July 32115091323711106  United States
14 1981 West Germany Cologne, West Germany Helmut Schmidt 23 July – 1 August 32119889330511110  United States
15 1985 United States Los Angeles, United States Ronald Reagan 10–20 August 299957452501196  United States
16 1989 New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand David Lange 7–17 January 3095572622912120  United States
17 1993 Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria Zhelyu Zhelev 24 July – 2 August 521679129538412126  United States
18 1997 Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark John M. Lovett 13–26 July 652028149653414140  United States
19 2001 Italy Rome, Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi 22 July – 1 August 672208156264614143  United States
20 2005 Australia Melbourne, Australia Marigold Southey 5–16 January 632038140263614147  Ukraine
21 2009 Taipei, Chinese Taipei 1 Ma Ying-jeou 5–15 September 802670171477917177  Russia
22 2013 Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria2 Rosen Plevneliev 26 July – 4 August2 8327111792919162032  Russia
23 2017 Turkey Samsun, Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 18–30 July 972856189795918219  Russia
24 2021 Brazil Caxias do Sul, Brazil First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro 1–15 May 20223 71148910224671832193  Ukraine
25 2025 Japan Tokyo, Japan 15–26 November

1 TaiwanThe Republic of China (Taiwan) is recognised as Chinese Taipei by CISS and the majority of international organisations it participates in due to political considerations and Cross-Strait relations with the People's Republic of China.

2 The marathon had been held 4 days before the opening ceremonies in Füssen, Germany on 21 July 2013.[15]

3 Due the small number of venues near Caxias do Sul and Brazil and a low number of participants, the bowling events were transferred to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and were held between 20 and 30 October 2022.[16]

List of Winter Deaflympics hosts

Games Year Host Opened by Dates Nations Competitors Sports Events Top Nation
Total Men Women
1 1949 Austria Seefeld, Austria 26–30 February 53333025 Switzerland
2 1953 Norway Oslo, Norway 20–24 February 64442249  Norway
3 1955 Germany Oberammergau, West Germany 10–13 February 859545411  Norway
4 1959 Montana-Vermala, Switzerland 27–31 January 1042314  Norway
5 1963 Sweden Åre, Sweden 12–16 March 960213  Austria
6 1967 Germany Berchtesgaden, West Germany 20–25 February 1289211  Norway
7 1971 Adelboden, Switzerland 25–30 February 13145211 Switzerland
8 1975 United States Lake Placid, United States 2–8 February 13136412  Canada
9 1979 France Méribel, France 21–27 January 14180312  Soviet Union
10 1983 Italy Madonna di Campiglio, Italy 13–23 January 15147317  Soviet Union
11 1987 Norway Oslo, Norway 7–14 February 15169318  Norway
12 1991 Canada Banff, Canada 2–9 March 16175518  Soviet Union
13 1995 Finland Ylläs, Finland 14–19 March 18260415  Russia
14 1999 Davos, Switzerland 6–14 March 18273517  Russia
15 2003 Sweden Sundsvall, Sweden 26 February – 9 March 21259423  Russia
16 2007 United States Salt Lake City, United States 1–10 February 23302526  Russia
17 2011 Slovakia Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia 16–28 February Cancelled
18 2015 Russia Khanty-Mansiysk and Magnitogorsk, Russia 28 March – 5 April 27344531  Russia
19 2019 Italy Sondrio Province, Italy 12–21 December 34461636  Russia
20 2024 Turkey Ankara-Erzurum, Turkey 2–12 March 2024
21 2027 TBA TBA

All-time medal table

Combined

Sports

Summer Deaflympics

The following sports have been contested in a Summer Deaflympic Games programme:

Sport (Discipline) Body 24 28 31 35 39 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 01 05 09 13 17 21
 
Current summer sports
 
Aquatics – Swimming 7 10 11 10 11 14 18 14 14 15 17 17 26 26 34 31 34 32 38 38 38 38 40 45
 
Athletics 17 20 23 23 23 24 26 32 32 33 34 34 35 30 32 36 40 40 43 42 43 44 43 45
Badminton 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6
Basketball DIBF 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Bowling 10 10 10 10 8 12 7
 
Cycling – Mountain 2 2 2
Cycling – Road 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 8 8
 
Football 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
 
Golf 2 2
Handball 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2
Judo 10 17 17 16
Karate 5 15 18 16
Orienteering 6 6 5 8 9 10
Shooting 1 1 2 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 8 7 7 6 6 10 11 12 13
Table Tennis 5 5 7 7 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Taekwondo 8 13 13 11
Tennis 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
 
Volleyball – Beach 2 2 2 2 2
Volleyball – Indoor 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
 
Wrestling – Freestyle 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 8 7 7 7 8 8
Wrestling – Greco-Roman 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 8 7 7 7 8 8
 
Discontinued summer sports
 
Aquatics – Diving 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Aquatics – Water Polo 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 
Gymnastics – Artistic 2 2 13 12 12
 
Demonstration summer sports
 
Gymnastics – Artistic
Gymnastics – Rhythmic
 
Total 31 38 43 45 47 51 57 69 94 85 105 97 106 110 96 120 126 140 143 147 177 203 219 216

Winter Deaflympics

The following sports have been contested in a Winter Deaflympic Games programme:

Sport (Discipline) Body 49 53 55 59 63 67 71 75 79 83 87 91 95 99 03 07 15 19 24
 
Current winter sports
 
Chess 4 4
Curling 2 2 2 2
Futsal 2
Ice hockey 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
 
Skiing – Alpine 3 4 6 10 8 6 6 6 6 8 8 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 10
Skiing – Snowboarding 6 5 10 10 10
Skiing – NordicCross-country 2 3 3 3 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 9 8 9 9
 
Discontinued winter sports
 
Skiing – Nordic – Nordic combined 1 1
Skiing – Nordic – Ski jumping 1 1 1
 
Speed skating 3 4 5
 
Demonstration winter sports
 
Curling
Ice hockey
 
Skiing – Snowboarding
 
Speed skating
 
Total 5 9 11 14 13 11 11 12 12 17 18 18 15 17 23 27 31 36 38

See also

References

  1. "Constitution". Archived 25 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine. International Committee of Sports for the Deaf. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – News Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Deaflympics.com. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  3. What are the Deaflympics?. Disabled World. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 Future Directions of the Deaflympics Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Historical overview of the Paralympics, Special Olympics, and Deaflympics Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  6. "Russia excluded from Deaflympics after plea from Ukraine". www.insidethegames.biz. 12 March 2022.
  7. Winter Olympics: 2011 Winter Deaflympics Cancelled Archived 25 January 2013 at archive.today. Healthyhearing.com (17 February 2011). Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  8. International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – PressRelease Archived 15 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Deaflympics.com (13 February 2011). Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  9. 1 2 ICSD Pursuing Legal Action Following Failure of 17th Winter Deaflympics Archived 24 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Deaf Sports Mag. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  10. Slovakia: Deaflympics 2011 Controversy · Global Voices. Globalvoices.org. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  11. 2011 US Deaflympics – Article | Letter from ICSD to USA athletes Archived 9 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Usdeaflympics.org (17 February 2011). Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  12. International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – PressRelease Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Deaflympics.com (14 February 2011). Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  13. Deaflympics Committee Head Sentenced to Thirteen Years – English News. Webnoviny.sk. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  14. International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – Games. Deaflympics.com. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  15. "Sofia 2013 22nd Deaflympics Marathon Details". CISS. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  16. "Deaflympics 2021 in Bowling". CISS. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  17. "Deaflympics". deaflympics.com. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
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