Deaflympics

The Deaflympics are held every four years, and are the longest running multi-sport event excluding the Olympics themselves.[3] The first games, held in Paris in 1924, were also the first ever international sporting event for athletes with a disability.[4] The event has been held every four years since, apart from a break for World War II, and an additional event, the Deaflympic Winter Games, was added in 1949.[5] The games began as a small gathering of 148 athletes from nine European nations competing in the International Silent Games in Paris, France, in 1924; now, they have grown into a global movement.[2]

Officially, the games were originally called the "International Games for the Deaf" from 1924 to 1965, but were sometimes also referred to as the "International Silent Games". From 1966 to 1999 they were called the "World Games for the Deaf", and occasionally referred to as the "World Silent Games". From 2001, the games have been known by their current name Deaflympics (often mistakenly called the Deaf Olympics).[5]

To qualify for the games, athletes must have a hearing loss of at least 55 db in their "better ear". Hearing aids, cochlear implants and the like are not allowed to be used in competition, to place all athletes on the same level.[5] Other examples of ways the games vary from hearing competitions are the manner in which they are officiated. To address the issue of Deaflympians not being able to be guided by sounds, certain sports use alternative methods of commencing the game. For example, the football referees wave a flag instead of blowing a whistle; on the track, races are started by using a light, instead of a starter pistol. It is also customary for spectators not to cheer or clap, but rather to wave – usually with both hands.

To date, the Summer Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 21 cities in 17 countries, but by cities outside Europe on only five occasions (Washington, D.C. 1965, Los Angeles 1985, Christchurch 1989, Melbourne 2005 and Taipei 2009). The last summer games were held in Samsun, Turkey in 2017. The Winter Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 16 cities in 11 countries. The last winter games were held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation in 2015.

The 2011 Winter Games scheduled to be held in Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia were cancelled due to the lack of readiness by the organizing committee to host the games.[6][7] The International Committee of Deaf Sports filed a criminal complaint against the Slovak Deaflympics Organizing Committee and its President, Mr. Jaromír Ruda.[8] The criminal complaint demands reimbursement of the funds that were transferred to the Slovak Deaflympics Organizing Committee from national deaf sports federations, to cover hotel accommodations and other Deaflympics-related expenses.[8] According to the Slovak newspaper, SME, "Jaromír Ruda, head of the Slovak Organising Committee, [is] a champion of promises and someone who is accused of a 1.6 million Euro Deaflympics-related fraud".[9] In a letter to the United States Deaflympians, International Committee of Sports for the Deaf ICSD President Craig Crowley expressed "his deep apologies for the cancellation of the 17th Winter Deaflympics".[10] Currently, the Slovak Deaflympic Committee and the Slovakia Association of Deaf Sportsmen Unions have been suspended.[11] In 2013 the Special Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica sentenced Ruda to a prison term of 14 and a half years for defrauding €1.6 million that should have been used for Winter Deaflympics.[12]

The host cities and NOCs for all past and scheduled games are as follows:[4][13]

1924

1928

1931

1935

1939

1949,1997

1953

1957

1961

1965

1969

1973

1977

1981

1985

1989

1993,2013

2001

2005

2009

2017

2021

Host cities of the Summer Deaflympics

Games	Year	Host	Opened by	Dates	Nations	Competitors			Sports	Events	Top Nation
						Total	Men	Women
1	1924	Paris, France	Gaston Doumergue	10–17 August	9	148	147	1	6	31	France
2	1928	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Wilhelmina of the Netherlands	18–26 August	10	212	198	14	5	38	Great Britain
3	1931	Nuremberg, Germany		19–23 August	14	316	288	28	6	43	Germany
4	1935	London, Great Britain		17–24 August	12	221	178	43	5	41	Great Britain
5	1939	Stockholm, Sweden		24–27 August	13	250	208	42	6	43	Great Britain
6	1949	Copenhagen, Denmark		12–16 August	14	391	342	49	7	51	Great Britain
7	1953	Brussels, Belgium		15–19 August	16	473	432	41	7	57	Germany
8	1957	Milan, Italy		25–30 August	25	635	565	70	9	69	Soviet Union
9	1961	Helsinki, Finland		6–10 August	24	613	503	110	10	94	Soviet Union
10	1965	Washington, D.C., United States	Lyndon B. Johnson	27 June – 3 July	27	687	575	112	9	85	Soviet Union
11	1969	Belgrade, Yugoslavia		9–16 August	33	1,189	964	225	12	105	Soviet Union
12	1973	Malmö, Sweden		21–28 August	31	1,116	893	223	11	97	United States
13	1977	Bucharest, Romania	Nicolae Ceauşescu	17–27 July	32	1,150	913	237	11	106	United States
14	1981	Cologne, West Germany		23 July – 1 August	32	1,198	893	305	11	110	United States
15	1985	Los Angeles, United States	Ronald Reagan	10–20 August	29	995	745	250	11	96	United States
16	1989	Christchurch, New Zealand	David Cargill	7–17 January	30	955	726	229	12	120	United States
17	1993	Sofia, Bulgaria	Zhelyu Zhelev	24 July – 2 August	52	1,679	1,295	384	12	126	United States
18	1997	Copenhagen, Denmark	John M. Lovett	13–26 July	65	2,028	1,496	534	14	140	United States
19	2001	Rome, Italy	Carlo Azeglio Ciampi	22 July – 1 August	67	2,208	1,562	646	14	143	United States
20	2005	Melbourne, Australia	Marigold Southey	5–16 January	63	2,038	1,402	636	14	147	Ukraine
21	2009	Taipei, Chinese Taipei 1	Ma Ying-jeou	5–15 September	80	2,670	1,714	779	17	177	Russia
22	2013	Sofia, Bulgaria	Rosen Plevneliev	26 July – 4 August	83	2,711	1,792	919	16	203	Russia
23	2017	Samsun, Turkey	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	18–30 July	97	2,856	1,897	959	18	219	Russia
24		Caxias do Sul, Brazil

¹ The Republic of China (Taiwan) is recognised as Chinese Taipei by CISS and the majority of international organisations it participates in due to political considerations and Cross-Strait relations with the People's Republic of China.

• Disabled sports

• Official website
• Comité International des Sports des Sourds official website