Deaflympics announced on June 7, 2014 the bidding procedure for the rights to host a summer or winter Deaflympics. While the 2015 winter Deaflympics are coming up in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (shown in video); the 2019 and 2021 Deaflympics locations have yet to be announced.

Deaflympics Logo. 8/3/2014

Deaflympics Logo. 8/3/2014

Dear ICSD Family,

Please review the Deaflympics – Regulations, Rule DG3. BIDDING PROCEDURES

1. A national federation or any group interested in bidding for the right to host a Summer or Winter Deaflympics must submit a letter of interest with the proposed city and date to the Secretariat nine (9) years before the conduct of the actual Deaflympics.

2. Bids for Summer or Winter Deaflympics can also be accepted from cities of nation members (i.e. Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau).

If you are interested, please communicate directly to Mr. Dmitry Rebrov, ICSD CEO by E-mail: office@ciss.org

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Valery Rukhledev

ICSD President

Posted: 7 Jun 2014 (ICSD)

For those that know what the Deaflympics are, they don’t always understand the history behind it. Every time atheletes set records and break barriers, they are participating in something that has been a tradition since 1924. A man named Eugène Rubens-Alcais came up with the International Silent Games and initially had participants in the first games from nine (9) European countries. Today, the number of national federations in the ICSD membership has reached 104. As the president of French Deaf Sports Federation, Eugène envisioned the international sports answer as one of the ways to show the world what they were capable of as athletes.

The final torchbearer lights the Deaflympic torch at the Opening Ceremony of the 2013 Sofia Deaflympics on Friday at Arena Armeec. 07/26/2013.

The final torchbearer lights the Deaflympic torch at the Opening Ceremony of the 2013 Sofia Deaflympics on Friday at Arena Armeec.
07/26/2013.

 

Antoine Dresse was the driving force behind helping Eugène accomplish his goal of setting up an international competition. Because of this, countries started thinking about how they treated their citizens and the welfare of their people. While misconceptions continue to this day, more and more countries and nations recognize the movement and more games are held.

The Internatonal Committe of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) has gone through multiple name changes. After the initial Paris Games, deaf sporting leaders assembled at a café and established Le Comité International des Sports Silencieux (the International Committee of Silent Sports), CISS, which was later renamed Le Comité International des Sports des Sourds (The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf), ICSD.

One unique thing about the Deaflympics is that they are organized and run exclusively by members of this community. The eligibility requirement is that the person must be Deaf to serve on the board and executive bodies. There have been 21 summer games since the initial games in Paris, France. The first Winter Games were held in Seefeld Austria in 1949.

The games went global when the first Deaflympics was held in Washington D.C. in 1965 and the 2019 and 2021 games have yet to be announced. For those that want to be part of this piece of history, the bidding process has begun.