add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
The Deaf Olympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are an IOC-sanctioned event at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level. The games have been organised by the Comité International des Sports des Sourds (CISS, "The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf") since the first event.
[edit] HistoryThe Deaf Olympics are held every 4 years, and are the longest running multi-sport event excluding the Olympics themselves.[1] The first games, held in Paris in 1924, were also the first ever international sporting event for athletes with a disability.[2] 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.[3] At the first Games in Paris, 145 athletes from nine European nations took part. In 2005 the 20th Games were held in Melbourne, Australia, and according to the Deaflympics website, "[m]ore than 3,200 deaf athletes and officials from 67 nations" participated.[4] Officially, the games were originally called the "International Games for the Deaf" from 1924 to 1965, but were sometimes 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 2000, the games have been known by their current name "Deaflympics" (often mistakenly called the "Deaf Olympics").[3] 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.[3] Other examples of ways the games vary from hearing competitions are the manner in which they are officiated. The football referees wave a flag instead of blowing a whistle. On the track, races are started by using a light flash, instead of a starter pistol. [edit] SportsThe following sports are currently on the Deaflympic Games programme:[5] [edit] Summer disciplines[edit] Individual sports[edit] Team sports[edit] Winter disciplines[edit] Individual sports[edit] Team sports[edit] Host nations and citiesTodate, the Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 36 cities in 21 countries, but by cities outside Europe and North America on only three occasions (Christchurch 1989, Melbourne 2005 and Taipei 2009). The next summer games will be held in Athens, Greece in 2013,and the next winter games will be in High Tatras,Slovakia in 2011The host cities and NOCs are as follows:[2][6] [edit] Summer Deaflympics
[edit] Winter Deaflympics
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
_Logo.gif){kind=logo}
