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 XXI Summer Deaflympic Games and commonly known as Taipei 2009, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 5 to 15 September 2009 in Taipei, Taiwan. It is 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 2007 Winter Deaflympics, officially known as the 16th Winter Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was held from 3 to 10 February 2007 in Salt Lake City, United States.
The 2003 Winter Deaflympics officially known as the 15th Winter Deaflympics is an international multi-sport event that was held from 28 February 2003 to 8 March 2003.The event was hosted by Sundsvall, Sweden.
Czech Republic which was formerly a part of Czechoslovakia, first competed at the Deaflympics, as an independent nation in 1993. But in 1993, coincidentally Czechoslovakia competed in its last Deaflympic event. Prior to the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Czech athletes went on to compete at the Deaflympics from 1928 to 1993 for Czechoslovakia.
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.
Cecilia Helena Ferm is a Swedish deaf female basketball player. She has represented both national and deaf basketball teams. Ferm has participated at the Deaflympics on 5 occasions since making her debut in the 1993 Summer Deaflympics.
Tereza Kmochová is a Czech deaf female alpine skier. She has represented Czech Republic in Winter Deaflympics, Winter Universiade and in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. She generally competes in the women's combined, slalom, giant slalom, Super-G events at international alpine skiing competitions. She is considered one of the finest deaflympic alpine skiers to have competed at the Deaflympics and also regarded as a finest athlete to have represented Czech Republic at the Deaflympics with a record haul of 10 medals including 7 gold medals. In the 2015 Winter Deaflympics she created history after winning gold medals in all five events such as giant slalom, super combined, slalom, downhill and Super-G.
Nele Alder-Baerens is a German female distance runner and marathon runner. She is regarded as one of the finest long-distance runners from Germany to have represented the nation at the Deaflympics. Nele Alder-Baerens has represented Germany at the Deaflympics in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2017 and in 2022 has clinched 5 medals in her Deaflympic career including 2 gold medals. She is also the defending champion in the women's marathon at the Deaflympics. Nele also currently holds few deaf world records in the women's Athletics.
Water polo is a water sport which has been contested at the Summer Deaflympics on 11 occasions. Water polo was recognised as a sporting event at the Deaflympics for the first time in 1949 with only two nations competing in the event. Water polo was contested only for men in the Deaflympic history and raised question marks regarding the availability of the sport at the 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. Sporting events apart from curling commenced on 13 December.
Lauren Weibert is an American deaf snowboarder. She competed at the 2015 Winter Deaflympics and took part in the women's snowboarding competition. She claimed a gold medal in the women's slopestyle event and a silver in the snowboard cross event. She also won the gold medal in the women's slopestyle event at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics.
The chess competition was held at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics between 13 and 20 December 2019 at Hotel Aurora except on 18 December. The chess competition which was chosen as a sport being part of the multi-sport event was an unprecedented move and it made its debut at this edition of the Winter Deaflympics.
Canada competed at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics which were held in Valtellina and Valchiavenna, Italy, from December 12 to 21, 2019. Canada was one of the 34 nations to compete at the multi-sport event. This was the nation's 15th appearance at the Winter Deaflympics, having regularly participated at the event since making its debut in 1953.
The curling competitions of the 2022 Winter Olympics were held at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, one of the Olympic Green venues. Curling competitions were scheduled for every day of the games, from February 2 to February 20. This was the eighth time that curling was part of the Olympic program.
The United States competed at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics which was held in Valtellina and Valchiavenna, Italy, from December 12 to 21, 2019. The United States was one of the 34 nations to compete at the multi-sport event. This was the nation's 12th appearance at the Winter Deaflympics, having regularly participated at the event since making its debut in 1967. 42 athletes represented the United States at the Deaflympics in all six sporting events including chess, cross-country skiing, curling, ice hockey, alpine skiing, and snowboarding.
Kazakhstan competed at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics which was held in Valtellina and Valchiavenna, Italy, from December 12 to 21, 2019. Kazakhstan was one of the 34 nations to compete at the multi-sport event. This was the nation's second appearance at the Winter Deaflympics, after making its debut in 2015. It sent a delegation consisting of 40 athletes for the event.
Russia competed at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics held between 12 and 21 December 2019 in Province of Sondrio in Northern Italy. Russian competitors won medals in each of the sports contested at the games and the country finished in 1st place in the medal table.
China competed at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics held between 12 and 21 December 2019 in Sondrio Province in Northern Italy. The country finished in 6th place in the medal table with a total of two gold medals and two bronze medals.
Croatia competed at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics held between 12 and 21 December 2019 in Province of Sondrio in Northern Italy. The country won three bronze medals and the country finished in 15th place in the medal table.
China 
Russia 
Finland 
Poland 
South Korea 
Hungary 
Ukraine 
United States 
Canada 
Japan 
Switzerland 
Italy 
Croatia 