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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | April 21, 1978 Little Falls, Minnesota, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ronda Jo Miller (born 21 April 1978) is a retired American professional deaf female basketball and volleyball player. [1] [2] She is one of the few deaf women basketball players to have tried out for WNBA. [3] [4] However, she did not make the team.
Ronda Jo Miller was born profoundly deaf in Little Falls, Minnesota. As a child she played basketball with her brother, Robert using a hoop nailed to a shed next to their barn. She attended and graduated from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. She graduated at Gallaudet University in 2001. [5]
She made her Deaflympic debut at the 1997 Summer Deaflympics as part of the US deaf basketball team that claimed the gold medal. [6] She then became the member of the US deaf volleyball team and clinched silver and bronze medals at the 2001 Summer Deaflympics and 2005 Summer Deaflympics respectively. [7] [8]
Apart from her Deaflympic career, she had a historic stint with Gallaudet University women's basketball team, scoring over 1000 points for Bison. [9]
In 1997, she was nominated for the ICSD Deaf Sportswoman of the Year award for her performance in the basketball event at the 1997 Summer Deaflympics. [10] She was inducted into the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. She retired from international basketball competitions in 2014.
Gallaudet University is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard of hearing in the world and remains the only higher education institution in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. Hearing students are admitted to the graduate school and a small number are also admitted as undergraduates each year. The university was named after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a notable figure in the advancement of deaf education.
Miha Zupan is a Slovenian former professional basketball player. He played among hearing players at the highest level in Europe, despite being deaf since birth. He is a 2.05 m power forward who can also play center when needed. He is the only deaf person to play in professional basketball league and in the EuroCup. Miha Zupan has competed at the Deaflympics on 5 occasions from 1997 to 2017.
Valery Nikititch Rukhledev is a Russian sports activist. He is also a 6 time gold medalist in wrestling for the Soviet Union at the Deaflympics from 1969 to 1977. He served as the president of the Comite International des Sports des Sourds from 2013 to 2018. He retired from the position as President of ICSD on 31 July 2018 after being charged on embezzlement charges in a corruption scandal, in which he was accused of embezzling $803,800 from the All-Russian Society of the Deaf. He was later replaced by Australian Rebecca Adam as ICSD President on 1 August 2018 which created further controversy in the Deaf sports world.
Donalda Kay Ammons is an American educator and author. She served as a teacher at several deaf schools in the United States. Ammons was also the former President of the Comite International des Sports des Sourds (CISS) from 2003 to 2009.
Shi Ce is a Chinese deaf female table tennis player. She has represented China at the Deaflympics four times from 2005 to 2017. Shi Ce has been regarded as one of the finest athletes to have represented China at the Deaflympics, having won 14 medals at the event since making her debut in the 2005 Summer Deaflympics.
Tamara Johanna Foronda, often known as Tamara J. Foronda, is an American volleyball player who has also played beach volleyball and handball in addition to her sports career. She has represented United States at the Deaflympics on three occasions in three different sporting events. She graduated from the Gallaudet University.
Barbara Oddone is a former Italian deaf female tennis player. She has represented Italy at the Deaflympics from 1989 to 2013. Oddone has won a total of 18 medals at the Deaflympics, which enlightens the career best performance by any Italian player at the Deaflympic history.
Dawn Jani Birley is a Canadian deaf actress, television anchor, educator and a popular taekwondo practitioner. She was engaged in her sport, taekwondo in the early parts of her life before becoming a professional actor in the mid-2000s. She graduated at Gallaudet University.
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.
Peggy de Villiers is a South African deaf swimmer. She represented South Africa at the Deaflympics in 2009 and 2013. She made her Deaflympic debut at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics and claimed 4 medals including a gold medal in the 50m backstroke event with a world record breaking timing of 31.11 for deaf swimming at that time. She currently holds the deaf world swimming records in the women's 50m butterfly and women's 100m butterfly categories. She completed her undergraduated swimming career with the University of West Florida as a member of the college team.
Trude Raad is a deaf Norwegian track and field athlete. She generally competes in the discus throw and hammer throw events at the International competitions. Trude has represented Norway at the Deaflympics in 2009, 2013 and 2017 and has won 4 gold medals in her Deaflympic career. She was also a champion in the women's hammer throw event at the Deaflympics on 3 consecutive occasions. She broke her own deaf world record in the women's hammer throw at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics with a distance of 66.35m, the previous best was 65.03m
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.
Alexandra Polivanchuk is a Swedish female deaf swimmer who is also the twin sister of Anna Polivanchuk. She has represented Sweden at the Deaflympics in 2005, 2009 and 2013. She currently holds the deaf world swimming records in 50m and 100m butterfly events. She graduated and has been training the sport of swimming at the Gallaudet University.
Anna Polivanchuk is a Swedish female deaf swimmer and also the twin sister of Alexandra Polivanchuk. She competed at the Deaflympics in 2005 and 2009. She currently holds the deaf world swimming record in the women's 400m freestyle event which was set by her in 2006. She also graduated and continued her swimming career with the Gallaudet University.
Natalia Deeva is a Belarusian deaf female swimmer. She has competed at the Deaflympics on six occasions, the most appearances by a Deaflympic competitor representing Belarus at the Deaflympics. She is notable for breaking three deaf swimming world records in a single day at the 2007 World Deaf Swimming Championships.
Petra Kurková is a former Czech female deaf alpine skier. She represented Czech Republic at the Deaflympics in 1999, 2003 and 2007 claiming 12 medals in her Deaflympic career including 8 gold medals. Petra Kurkova also received a scholarship of Fulbright-Masaryk Fellowship to study at the Valdosta State University after claiming four gold medals at the 1999 Winter Deaflympics. She was once considered as one of the leading deaf female skiers in the world after recording a medal tally of 12 during her Deaflympic career which spanned from 1999 to 2007.
Tone Tangen Myrvoll is a former Norwegian deaf cross-country skier, orienteer and runner. She has represented Norway in both Summer and Winter Deaflympics from 1985 to 2003 on seven occasions. She has competed at the Summer Deaflympics in 1985 and in 1989 and competed at the Winter Deaflympics in 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999 and in 2003. Tone Tangen Myrvoll initially started her career as orienteer before pursuing her career in cross country skiing. She is regarded as the most successful cross country skier in Deaflympic history with a medal tally of 15 including 11 gold medals. She is also the most successful athlete from Norway to compete at the Deaflympics.
Aksana Petrushenka also spelt as Oksana Petrushenka is a Belarusian deaf swimmer who is also a current world record holder among deaf swimmers in women's 100m and 200m breaststroke. She has represented Belarus at the Deaflympics in five occasions in 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017. She is considered to be the second most decorated woman in Deaflympics history with a record haul of 28 medals, which is second highest among women in Deaflympics after Cindy-Lu Bailey.
Chrysanthi Chaina is a Greek professional basketball player. She has represented Greece at the Deaflympics on four occasions in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022.
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