The world is beginning to embrace deaf culture, thanks in part to mainstream actors like Marlee Matlin, reality show contestants like Survivor: The Amazon's Christy Smith and athletes like Kenny Walker and motocross champion Ashley Fiolek. The sports world has fully embraced deaf culture, to the extent of creating a venue specifically for deaf athletes to showcase their abilities.
History of the Deaflympics
In August of 1924, 148 outstanding athletes from 7 countries gathered in Paris to compete in the first International Silent Games. Over the past 85 years, the International Silent Games have evolved into the Deaflympics, the world's second-largest multiple-sport competition and one of the fastest growing sporting events.
The original vision of founder Eugene Rubens-Alcais, of worldwide athletic competition and the sharing of experiences among deaf athletes, continues today in games organized by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf and sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Unlike athletes in other IOC sanctioned games, such as the Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics, the athletes participating in the Deaflympics cannot be guided by the traditional means of starting a game or race. They cannot hear a referee's whistle, a starter's pistol or a bullhorn. The traditional way to signal the start of an event in the Deaflympics is to wave a flag or use a light flash.
The Need for the Deaflympics
The need for the Deaflympics is evident in many ways, not just by the number of participants. The athletes inability to follow the traditional starting signals for an event is just one of the reasons why games like this are needed.
Athletes participating in the Deaflympics are able to bond with their competitors in a way that they can't in any other games. They miss out on this crucial part of competition, the feeling of inclusion, in games with hearing competitors because of their inability to communicate instantly with fellow competitors.
Sports in the Deaflympics
Like the Olympics and Paralympics, the Deaflympics are held on a rotating schedule.
The Summer Deaflympics are held every two years, the last being 2009 in Tapei, and consist of 19 sports. Almost 2500 elite athletes competed in competitions including volleyball, karate, football, biking, swimming and tennis.
The 17th Winter Deaflympics are scheduled to be held in Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia, in February 2011. The website does not yet list an approximate number of athletes. Based on the way the games have been growing, however, it is estimated that close to 300 athletes will compete. The 5 sports included in the Winter Deaflympics are alpine skiing, cross country skiing, curling, snowboarding and ice hockey.
Megan Abrams - I have lived with the effects of a childhood stroke for more than half my life and offer a uniquely personal perspective on disability.
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