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.
Terence Mike Parkin is a swimmer from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 200m Breaststroke. Parkin, who is deaf, also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, as well as the Deaflympics in which he took home 29 gold medals.
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.
Oskar Wilhelm Wetzell was a Finnish diver, who competed at the 1908 and the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Deaf basketball is basketball played by deaf people. Sign language is used to communicate whistle blows and communication between players.
Vyacheslav Semyonovic Skomorokhov was a Ukrainian track and field athlete who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was almost deaf since early childhood and also competed in the Deaf World Games in 1961,1969, 1973 and 1977. He also has won medals at the Deaflympics.
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.
Dean Bryan Barton-Smith, AM is an Australian former decathlete who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won medals at the Deaflympics in 1989, 1993 and 2005. Barton-Smith is most noted for his work and advocacy with the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, Deaf Sports Australia and the Deaflympics. Smith also holds world record in Decathlon and also represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 and 1994.
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.
Rebecca Meyers is a Paralympic swimmer of the United States. She won three gold and one silver medals in Rio 2016. She was also a member of the 2012 Paralympic Team, and won a silver and bronze in London. Rebecca Meyers has also competed at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Taiwan, which is also her only appearance at the Deaflympics. She also clinched a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay event in the 2009 Summer Deaflympics.
The Philippines has been competing at the Deaflympics since the 2009 edition. The country is represented by the Phil Sports Federation of the Deaf (PSFD).
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.
Eugène Rubens-Alcais was a French deaf activist in the field of sports. He is known for introducing the Deaflympics in 1924 for deaf sportspeople. He was determined to establish international competitions for the deaf, as they were considered as intellectually disabled people during his lifetime. Alcais believed that deaf athletes should have their own independent international competitions and promoted the idea in his own deaf sports magazine called The Silent Sportsman. In 1924, he was instrumental in hosting the inaugural Summer Deaflympics in his home country, France. Alcais is also the founder of Comité International des Sports des Sourds, the world governing body of deaf sports. He is often called the "father of Deaflympics" or "father of Olympics for the deaf".
Emily Hangstefer is an American deaf tennis player. She has competed at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
India competed in the 2017 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Samsun, Turkey. India sent a delegation consisting of 46 participants for the event.
Margareta Trnková-Hanne also known as Margareta Hanne is a former Czech deaf female track and field athlete and tennis player. She has represented Czech Republic at the Deaflympics in tennis and athletics sporting events.
Jakub Nosek is a Czech deaf bobsledder. He formerly competed as a track and field athlete.
Diksha Dagar is an Indian professional golfer who is also hearing-impaired. She became the leading amateur ladies golfer in India from November 2015. Diksha Dagar represented India at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics where golf was included in the Summer Deaflympics for the very first time and competed in the women's individual golf event securing a silver medal. Diksha also qualified to represent India at the 2018 Asian Games. She is also considered one of the emerging amateur golfers in India. In 2019, she became only the second Indian female golfer after Aditi Ashok to win on the Ladies European Tour and became the youngest Indian woman to do so at the age of 18.
India is currently competing in the 2021 Summer Deaflympics which is held in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. India sent a delegation consisting of 65 participants in 11 sporting disciplines such as shooting, badminton, athletics, golf, judo, karate, table tennis, tennis, taekwondo, wrestling for the event, which is also the largest ever delegation sent by India in a single Summer Deaflympic event.
