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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.
Gerhard Grimmer is known as an East German cross-country skier who competed during the 1960s and 1970s. He won several medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, including golds in the 50 km and the 4 × 10 km relay ; silvers in the 30 km (1970), 4 × 10 km relay (1970), and 15 km (1974); and a bronze in the 50 km (1970). Grimmer also won the Holmenkollen ski festival at 50 km twice (1970–71). He competed at three Olympics and his best Olympic finish was fifth at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck in the 50 km.
Jeffrey James Float is a former American competitive swimmer, world record holder, world champion and Olympic gold medalist. He qualified for the 1980 USA Olympic Swimming Team in three individual events, but could not participate when the United States boycotted the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympic Games. Four years later, he competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. As the peer-elected team captain, Jeff earned a gold medal in the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay, and finished fourth in the individual 200-meter freestyle event. In 2016 this 4x200-meter freestyle relay was designated the third greatest of all time.
Ignazio Fabra is a flyweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Italy. He won a world title in 1955 and finished second at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and 1962 and 1963 world championships. He placed fourth-fifth at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.
André Gerhard Wohllebe was an East German-German sprint canoeist who competed from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he won three medals with a gold and two bronzes. He was born in Berlin.
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 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 United States has been participating at the Deaflympics from 1935 and it is also currently placed first in the all time Deaflympics medal list. US has won more than 1000 medals, the only nation to do so in Deaflympics.
China completed at the Deaflympics for the first time way back in 1989. Since then, China has been regularly participating at the Deaflympics. China won its first Deaflympics medal also in 1989. China has competed at the Winter Deaflympics in 2007 and in 2015.
Colombia competed at the Summer Deaflympics for the first time in 1969. Colombia also won its only Deaflympics medal to date that same year. Colombia has never participated in the Winter Deaflympics.
Cyprus first competed at the Deaflympics way back in 1997. Since then Cyprus has been participating at the Deaflympics regularly. Cyprus won its first Deaflympic medal for bowling at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics. Cyprus has never participated in the Winter Deaflympics.
Armenia has been competing at the Deaflympics since its debut at the Deaflympics in 2001. Armenia won their first Deaflympic medal in 2013, for the wrestling event; this is also the only medal received by Armenia at the Deaflympics to date.
Iceland competed at the Deaflympics for the first time in 1993 and also bagged their first medal at the Deaflympics, which is also Iceland's only medal in Deaflympics history. Iceland also competed in the 1997, 2005 and 2013 Deaflympic events.
Kazakhstan first competed at the Deaflympics for the first time in 1997. Kazakhstan claimed their first Deaflympic medal in their first Deaflympic experience and finished with 2 medals in the event. So far, Kazakhstan has managed to bag 8 medals in the event's history.
Turkey has been participating at the Deaflympics since 1961 and has earned a total of 119 medals.
France has been participating at the Deaflympics since 1924 and has earned a total of 268 medals.
Afghanistan competed at the Deaflympics for the first time during the 2017 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Samsun, Turkey. Afghani team sent a five-member delegation for the Deaflympic event held in 2017, which is the only Deaflympic event where Afghanistan took part. The five members were: Ahmad Reshad Azizi (400m), Faiz Ahmad Faizi, Ekilil Khaliqyar (200m), Payman Noori (100m) and Ahman Fawad Sultani (100m). Afghanistan is yet to earn a medal at the Deaflympics.
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.
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.
References
- ↑ East German championships, men's 20 km walk Archived 19 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Athletes | Deaflympics". www.deaflympics.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
