About the Deaflympic Games

Founded in 1924 by Eugène Rubens-Alcais and Antoine Dresse due to the lack of sporting opportunities for Deaf and Hard of Hearing athletes, the Deaflympics (then known as the International Silent Games) was conceived as an international competition between elite Deaf and Hard of Hearing athletes. Today it remains the most prestigious competition among athletes with a hearing loss of greater than 55dB in the better ear.

 

The Deaflympics are sanctioned by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), whose constitution mandates that National Deaf Sports Federations shall be governed by boards in which its president and the majority of its members are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The ICSD Congress meets every two years. 

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The International Olympic Committee formally recognized the ICSD as an “International Federation with Olympic Standing” in 1955 and recognized the term “Deaflympics” in 2001. Today, the Deaflympics is the second oldest Olympic-type competition in the world, next only to the Olympics. Numerous Deaflympians have also competed in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.