Why don’t deaf and hard of hearing people take part in the events?

Although they are absent from the Paralympics, these athletes meet every four years for the Deaflympics, winter and summer Games which do not, however, benefit from the same exposure.

In 2024, Paris celebrated two centenaries. That of the Olympic Games, but also that, much less known, of the Deaflympics which were held in the French capital during the month of August 1924. This is the competition dedicated exclusively to deaf and hard of hearing athletes. The 20th edition of the winter games took place in Erzurum, in northeastern Turkey, in March and brought together 34 countries and 534 athletes. The last summer Deaflympics were held in Caxias do Sul (Brazil) in May 2022 and brought together 2,412 athletes and 73 nations. To be eligible to participate, you must have a hearing threshold below 55 decibels.

Why is this disability, deafness, not included, like visual impairment, in the Paralympic Games? “The deaf sports movement pre-existed the Paralympic movement, so it makes sense that the Deaflympics did not disappear with the advent of the Paralympic Games.”assures, firstly, Jean Minier, Director of Sports within the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF).

A return of one hundred years is therefore necessary. In 1924, twenty-four years before Stoke Mandeville (United Kingdom), the birthplace of the Paralympics, the Frenchman Eugène Rubens-Alcais, a deaf athlete, founded “with his Belgian friend, Antoine Dresse, the first World Games for the Deaf”recalls Julien Goy, president of the commission dedicated to deaf sports of the CPSF. Nine nations had participated.

Nicknamed the “Coubertin of the deaf” and suffering from this handicap himself, Eugène Rubens-Alcais made it possible “for deaf sport to see the light of day and for deaf athletes to participate in world competitions”explains Julien Goy. At the beginning of the 20th century, the community of deaf and hard of hearing people still lived with the bad memory of the Milan congress, which was held in 1880. It confirmed the preference for the oral teaching method for the deaf, marginalizing sign language in French schools, recalls France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

“Since this congress, the idea has persisted that when we let hearing people decide for the deaf and hard of hearing, it is at their expense.”

Jean Minier, Director of Sports at the French Paralympic and Sports Committee

to franceinfo

The deaf and hard of hearing community therefore wanted to keep control of its destiny, and “using sport to build community and a common culture”notes Jean Minier. Three institutions thus coexist today: the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the Olympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the Paralympic Games and the International Committee of Deaf Athletes (ICSD) for the Deaflympics.

“They are linked, there is no split, but deaf and hard of hearing people prefer to keep their hegemony and manage their specificity”adds Marion Sahbani, responsible for high-level non-Paralympic sports at the French Handisport Federation. For ten years, between 1985 and 1995, the ICSD and the IPC were indeed linked. But this partnership did not last because of “several disputes”explains Julien Goy: the cost of translation into sign language and the perception of deafness, considered by some “as a minor handicap”.

Although they are not participating in the Paralympic Games, some athletes with hearing disabilities have already competed at the Olympics. Belgian basketball player Emma Meesseman, Australian swimmer Meg Harris, Australian footballer Mackenzie Arnold, Indian golfer Diksha Dagar, American kayaker Aaron Small and American volleyball player David Smith were in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, recalls France 3 Ile-de-France.

Those who are not so lucky will watch the Paralympic Games as spectators. With a little envy too. “This absence is not shocking, Marion Sahbani believes, but deaf and hard of hearing athletes deplore the non-recognition of the Deaflympics”in France in particular. Thus, able-bodied athletes and those with disabilities will have the right to parade on the Champs-Elysées on September 14, but “The French Deaflympics medalists have still not been received at the Elysée by the president”notes Julien Goy.

Yet, these medalists exist: during the last winter Deaflympics in Turkey, the five French athletes won seven medals, including one gold. In Brazil, during the summer edition, the 56 French athletes brought home eight medals and eight titles.. “Athletes are suffering from not being at the Paralympics,” confirms Jean Minier. The multiple medal-winning alpine skier at the Deaflympics, Nicolas Sarremejane, quoted by franceinfo sport, does not say the opposite.

“We would be recognized at the same level as other disabilities and I am fighting for that. We must try to change things and open our borders.”

Nicolas Sarremejane, multiple medal-winning alpine skier at the Deaflympics

to franceinfo sport

Without the bonuses and the increasing visibility of the Paralympic Games, “The competition is unfair for the Deaflympics, Jean Minier breathes. They would like to benefit from the strength that the Olympics and the Paralympic Games represent, while keeping their spirit.” During this competition, deaf and hard of hearing athletes usually choose a location within the host city to meet there. “Hundreds of people come together to discuss their language, their community, their difficulties, he describes. That doesn’t exist in the Paralympic or Olympic Games.”

But a joint organisation between the Paralympic Games and Deaflympics seems utopian. Like the logistical impossibility of bringing together all the athletes within the same competition. “Accommodation, infrastructure, everything would be multiplied by almost two”warns Marion Sahbani. “When we put it all together, aren’t we going to get lost in the specificities of each one?”she asks. We would have to find space for the more than 2,000 athletes and 22 disciplines in summer (a little less than 600 athletes and six disciplines in winter).

“A rapprochement could only herald limited inclusion, warns Jean Minier. However, the deaf movement wants to exist globally and not have just a few events have the honour of entering the Paralympics.” So it will be all or nothing, and for the moment, it is rather nothing. One of the solutions to put more spotlight on the Deaflympics would be to organize them in the wake of the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and in the same city. “It’s not in the pipeline yet, but it’s an option”concedes the sports director at the CPSF. In the meantime, the Deaflympics remain disconnected from the big summer or winter gathering. The 25th edition of the Summer Deaflympics will be held in Tokyo from November 15 to 26.