Deaflympics

Sport for people with hearing impairment began very early. The first games, known as the International Silent Games, were held in 1924 in Paris with 148 athletes from nine European nations — the first international games ever organised for any group of people with disabilities, and the second internationally organised competition after the Olympics themselves. The Winter Games were added in 1949 at Seefeld, Austria.

The event was organised by Le Comité International des Sports Silencieux (the International Committee of Silent Sports), commonly known as the CISS, formed in 1924 in France. In 1955 the CISS was admitted to the International Olympic Committee as an international federation with Olympic standing. The CISS was later renamed Le Comité International des Sports des Sourds — the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) — which is today the main governing body responsible for the Deaflympics and the World Deaf Championships. The ICSD brings together deaf and hard-of-hearing elite athletes from around the world, both to compete and to build friendship between their countries. The present name, the 'Deaflympics', was formally adopted in 2001. …