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 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.
Deaf basketball is basketball played by deaf people. Sign language is used to communicate whistle blows and communication between players.
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.
Spanish Federation of Sports for the Deaf is the national governing body for deaf sports in Spain. Based in Madrid and created in 1993, they are one of five disability sport organizations that are members of the Spanish Paralympic Committee.
Disabled sports in Spain started in the 1910s with the emergence of deaf sport. Blind sport began in the 1930s. Sport for people with physical disabilities began in the 1950s, and was primarily rehabilitative. The first major organization for disabled sports was created in 1968 at the direction of then president of the Spanish Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch. Spain competed at its first Paralympic Games that same year. ONCE became the official organization for organizing Spanish representation in international blind sport competitions in 1986. Spanish sport was restructured because of changes in law during the early 1990s, resulting in the creation of four new disability sport organizations and the Spanish Paralympic Committee. During the 1990s and 2000s, funding opportunities for disabled sports improved.
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.
Craig Andrew Crowley is the 8th President of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, served between 2009 and 2013.
Reed Gershwind (born 17 May 1964) is a former US deaf swimmer who represented the United States at the Deaflympics and in other deaf championships.
South African Deaf Sports Federation (SADSF) is the official governing body of Deaf Sports in South Africa responsible for sending, supporting, funding the teams representing South Africa and the deaf sportspeople at the Deaflympics, Deaf World Championships. The organisation took the responsibility for sending deaf sportspeople at the Deaflympics since 1993.
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 Sport Federation is the official national sport governing body of deaf sports in Turkey.
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".
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.
Malaysian Deaf Sports Association also simply known as MSDeaf is the national governing body of deaf sports in Malaysia which was formed in 1993. It is also affiliated with the Comite International des Sports des Sourds since 1993. Despite its establishment in 1993, the sports council got recognition as the Deaf Sports Association of Malaysia from the government of Malaysia under the leadership of Najib Razak in 2018.
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.
The 2021 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 24th Summer Deaflympics, was the international multi-sport event held in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, as the main host city from 1 May to 15 May 2022. In addition to Caxias, there are events scheduled for the neighboring cities of Farroupilha and Flores da Cunha. On April 12, 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 20–30, 2022.
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.
Deaf Sports Australia (DSA), formerly known as Australian Deaf Sports Federation, is the national governing body of Deaf Sports in Australia.
