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 2001 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 19th Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from July 16 to August 1, 2001, in Rome, Italy.
The 2005 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 20th Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 5 January to 16 January 2005 in Melbourne, Australia.
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.
Gábor Máthé is a Hungarian male tennis player, who competes in the men's single and double during his career. His team is Tatár Tennis Club in Debrecen, Hungary. He is best known for winning the men's single tennis final on August 2 at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a three set victory over Mikaël Laurent from France.
Ruth Mae Taubert Seeger was an American athlete and coach. She was the first woman to be chosen for the United States track and field team for the 1957 World Games for the Deaf.
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 1981 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 14th Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from July 23 to August 1, 1981, in Cologne, Germany.
The 1977 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 13th Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from July 17 to July 27, 1977, in Bucharest, Romania.
The 1965 Summer Deaflympics, officially known as the 10th Summer Deaflympics, is an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from June 27 to July 3, 1965, in Washington D.C., United States. This is the first Deaflympics to be hosted outside of Europe, and the first Deaflympics to be hosted in Americas.
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.
The 1953 Summer Deaflympics officially known as 7th Deaflympics is an international multi-sport event that was held from 15 August 1953 to 19 August 1953. The event was hosted by Brussels, Belgium.
The 1957 Summer Deaflympics officially known as 8th Summer Deaflympics is an international multi-sport event that was held from 25 to 30 August 1957. This event was hosted by Milan, Italy.
Russia participated at the Deaflympics after making its debut in 1993, until it was banned in 2022. Russia is just behind United States for winning the most medals in Deaflympics history. In the 2017 Summer Deaflympics held in Turkey, Russia was the medal topper with a record haul of 199 medals. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) banned athletes from Russia from that year's Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
Emily Hangstefer is an American deaf tennis player. She has competed at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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.
Water polo is a water sport which has been contested at the Summer Deaflympics on 11 occasions. Water polo was recognised as a sporting event at the Deaflympics for the first time in 1949 with only two nations competing in the event. Water polo was contested only for men in the Deaflympic history and raised question marks regarding the availability of the sport at the Deaflympics.
Mario Kargl is an Austrian male professional tennis player. He was a former world no. 1 deaf tennis player and a former world champion at the Deaf tennis Championship in 2011. He has represented Austria at the Deaflympics in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017. He has clinched a medal haul of 4 bronze medals in his Deaflympic career after making his debut at the multi-sport event at the 2005 Summer Deaflympics at the age of 19.
Jafreen Shaik Jafreen is a deaf Indian tennis player. She represented India at the Deaflympics in 2013 and 2017. She claimed a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics partnering with Prithvi Sekhar.
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.
