The Deaflympics, also known as Deaflympiad 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, athletes cannot be guided by sounds. The games have been organized by the Comité International des Sports des Sourds since the first event in 1924.
The 2009 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 21st Summer Deaflympics was an international multi-sport event from 5 to 15 September 2009 in Taipei, Taiwan. It was the third Summer Deaflympics to be held in the Asia-Pacific region. Judo, karate, and taekwondo have been recognized as new summer disciplines in the Deaflympics sports competition program.
The 2013 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 22nd Summer Deaflympics, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria from July 26 to August 4, 2013. The marathon had been held before in Füssen, Germany on 21 July.
Sofia was hosting the biggest sports event for deaf athletes for a second time. In the past the Bulgarian capital hosted the 1993 Summer Deaflympics, thus becoming only the second city, together with Copenhagen, which has hosted two Summer Deaflympics.
Comité International des Sports des Sourds (CISS) is the apex body organizing international sports events for the deaf, particularly the Deaflympics. It is also called the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf. The organization was founded in Paris by Eugène Rubens-Alcais, who organized the first "International Silent Games" in 1924. Alcais was himself deaf and was the president of the French Deaf Sports Federation.
The First International Silent Games, or First International Games for the Deaf, now referred to retroactively as the 1924 Summer Deaflympics, were the inaugural edition of the Deaflympics. The Games were held in Paris, France, from 10 to 17 August 1924, as an equivalent to the Olympic Games for deaf athletes. They were organised on the initiative of deaf Frenchman Eugène Rubens-Alcais, who, just after the Games, co-founded the Comité International des Sports des Sourds with other "deaf sporting leaders". The 1924 Games were "the first games ever" for athletes with a disability, preceding the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games in 1948, which became the Paralympic Games in 1960 but which did not include events for deaf athletes.
Winfried Wiencek is a deaf sports official and former German deaf table tennis player. Since 2003 he has been General Secretary of the German Deaf Sports Association. He is president of the Deaf Sports Association North Rhine-Westphalia, and support of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Asia Pacific Deaf Games is a deaf multi-sport event established in 1984 which is held every 4 years in the Asia Pacific region. It is the successor to the "Far Eastern Deaf Football Championship" which was held in Taipei in 1983. The inaugural games was held in 1984 in Hong Kong. At that time, the games was known as the Asia Pacific Deaf Football Championship which was held biennially until 1988. In 1988, the games' governing body Asia Pacific Deaf Sports Confederation was formed during the 3rd Championship in Melbourne, Australia with Ms. Wendy Home as its first administrator. The games changed its name to its present name, the Asia Pacific Deaf Games when the games was held in Seoul, South Korea in 1992 after Asia Pacific Deaf Sports Confederation passed a resolution to change the name of the games, which has since been held once every four years.
The 2017 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 23rd Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that took place in Samsun, Turkey from July 18 to July 30, 2017. 3,148 athletes from 97 countries competed in 18 sports with 21 disciplines. 86 records were broken with 54 being world records and 32 being Deaflympics records.
The 2015 Winter Deaflympics, officially known as the 18th Winter Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that took place in Khanty-Mansiysk and Magnitogorsk, Russia from 28 March to 5 April 2015.
The 1931 Summer Deaflympics officially known as the 3rd Summer Deaflympics was an international multi-sport event that was held from 19 August 1931 to 23 August 1931. It was hosted by Nürnberg, Germany.
The 1935 Summer Deaflympics officially known as 4th International Games for the Deaf was an international multi-sport event that was held from 17 August 1935 to 24 August 1935. It was hosted by London, England, with events held at White City Stadium.
The 1939 Summer Deaflympics officially known as 5th International Silent Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 24 to 27 August 1939 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The 1949 Summer Deaflympics officially known as the 6th Deaf Olympiad is an international multi-sport event that was held from 12 August 1949 to 16 August 1949. This event was hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The 1953 Summer Deaflympics officially known as 7th Deaflympics is an international multi-sport event that was held from 15 August 1953 to 19 August 1953. The event was hosted by Brussels, Belgium.
The 1949 Winter Deaflympics officially known as the I International Winter Games for the Deaf is an international multi-sport event that was held from 26 January 1949 to 30 January 1949. This event was hosted by Austria.
Deaf Sports New Zealand (DSNZ) formerly known as the Deaf Amateur Sports Association of New Zealand is the national governing body of Deaf Sports in New Zealand.
Turkish Deaf Sports Federation is the official national sport governing body of deaf sports in Turkey.
The 2011 Winter Deaflympics officially known as the 17th Winter Deaflympics was originally scheduled to be held from 18 February 2011 to 26 February 2011 in Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia. This was the first time that Slovakia was selected to host a Deaflympic event. But the multi-sporting event was cancelled due to the lack of preparations, lack of readiness and reluctance by the Deaflympic Committee of Slovakia prior to the event. The event was also cancelled mainly due to the alleged fraud by the former President of the Deaflympic Committee of Slovakia, Jaromir Ruda. The Winter Games was cancelled and was postponed to 2015, which was the 18th Winter Deaflympics.
The 2019 Winter Deaflympics, officially known as the 19th Winter Deaflympics or XIX Winter Deaflympics, was the 19th edition of the Winter Deaflympics, and took place between the 12–21 December in Sondrio Province in Northern Italy. The opening ceremony was held in Sondrio on 12 December and curling competition began a day prior to the start of the Winter Deaflympics.
The 2021 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 24th Summer Deaflympics or XXIV Summer Deaflympics, and commonly known as Caxias Do Sul 2021, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 15 May 2022 in Brazil. The main host city was Caxias do Sul, Brazil, originally scheduled for December 2021 but postponed until May 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to Caxias, there were events scheduled for the neighboring cities of Farroupilha and Flores da Cunha. In April 2022, CISS has announced that due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from competing in Caxias do Sul, and in the same press release it was also announced that the bowling tournament was scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during October 2022.
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