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World's elite deaf athletes gather for 2007 Winter Deaflympics - International Herald Tribune
They were once known as the Silent Games, but It is a description that does not quite fit as the Finnish hockey team practices for a game against Sweden in the 2007 Winter Deaflympics.
Pucks clang off the post and sticks slap against the ice. If anything, the noises are more jarring without the sound of shouts from the players or coaches.
"I think it will definitely change the way you see or perceive someone who is deaf," says Dwight Benedict, chairman of the games, who spoke through a sign interpreter.
Running through Feb. 10, the games feature 310 deaf athletes from 24 countries competing in hockey, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and curling — a demonstration sport this year.
A few accommodations will be noticeable. There will be no starter guns — countdowns to start races are visual. Cross-country skiers can lightly tap the racer in front of them with a pole to signal they are passing. When a penalty is called in hockey, strobe lights flash to alert the players to the call.
But, otherwise the play is the same.
"Physically there are no concerns," Benedict said. "When it comes to competing in athletics we're able to play on a level playing field."
The opening ceremonies scheduled for Saturday will have the traditional march of the athletes, but the performances will be by deaf individuals, he said.
A cauldron will be lighted representing the Olympic flame, but the games cannot afford to have a gas-fueled cauldron ablaze for the entire week. Instead, a representation of a flame will stay in the cauldron for the duration of the games.
Last year athletes were asked to raise $4,000 (€3,072) each to help fund the games. The U.S. Olympic Committee no longer provides money to the Deaflympics after an overhaul following the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Funding for the Salt Lake City Deaflympics has come largely from deaf communications companies Sorenson Communications and Communications Services for the Deaf and from the Sorenson Legacy Fund.
"Nothing's going to stop us from having a great games," Benedict said. "Deaf people are so used to facing challenges."
Jukka Hyyppa, a Finnish hockey player who is in his third Deaflympics, said the event is as much about that camaraderie as it is sports.
"A lot of them are friends," Hyyppa said of the Swedish players he was preparing to face off against Friday. "After, we'll probably go out and have a good time together."
Salt Lake City, host city of the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games, is the first city to host all three International Olympic Committee-sanctioned games. Venues used for those games will also hold Deaflympics events.
Founded in 1924, the Deaflympics is the second-oldest international sports event in the world. Only the Olympics, founded in 1894, is older.
Those first summer games held in Paris were officially called The International Games for the Deaf, but known as the Silent Games.
In 1924 there were 145 athletes from nine European countries. The first winter deaf games were held in Austria in 1949 with 33 athletes from five countries.
The most recent summer Deaflympics was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2005 and drew 2,200 athletes from 70 countries.
The games officially became the Deaflympics in 2000. Participation in the Deaflympics is limited to those who have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in the better ear — essentially a need to use some visual means to converse either in lip reading or a sign language, Benedict said.
They were once known as the Silent Games, but It is a description that does not quite fit as the Finnish hockey team practices for a game against Sweden in the 2007 Winter Deaflympics.
Pucks clang off the post and sticks slap against the ice. If anything, the noises are more jarring without the sound of shouts from the players or coaches.
"I think it will definitely change the way you see or perceive someone who is deaf," says Dwight Benedict, chairman of the games, who spoke through a sign interpreter.
Running through Feb. 10, the games feature 310 deaf athletes from 24 countries competing in hockey, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and curling — a demonstration sport this year.
A few accommodations will be noticeable. There will be no starter guns — countdowns to start races are visual. Cross-country skiers can lightly tap the racer in front of them with a pole to signal they are passing. When a penalty is called in hockey, strobe lights flash to alert the players to the call.
But, otherwise the play is the same.
"Physically there are no concerns," Benedict said. "When it comes to competing in athletics we're able to play on a level playing field."
The opening ceremonies scheduled for Saturday will have the traditional march of the athletes, but the performances will be by deaf individuals, he said.
A cauldron will be lighted representing the Olympic flame, but the games cannot afford to have a gas-fueled cauldron ablaze for the entire week. Instead, a representation of a flame will stay in the cauldron for the duration of the games.
Last year athletes were asked to raise $4,000 (€3,072) each to help fund the games. The U.S. Olympic Committee no longer provides money to the Deaflympics after an overhaul following the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Funding for the Salt Lake City Deaflympics has come largely from deaf communications companies Sorenson Communications and Communications Services for the Deaf and from the Sorenson Legacy Fund.
"Nothing's going to stop us from having a great games," Benedict said. "Deaf people are so used to facing challenges."
Jukka Hyyppa, a Finnish hockey player who is in his third Deaflympics, said the event is as much about that camaraderie as it is sports.
"A lot of them are friends," Hyyppa said of the Swedish players he was preparing to face off against Friday. "After, we'll probably go out and have a good time together."
Salt Lake City, host city of the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games, is the first city to host all three International Olympic Committee-sanctioned games. Venues used for those games will also hold Deaflympics events.
Founded in 1924, the Deaflympics is the second-oldest international sports event in the world. Only the Olympics, founded in 1894, is older.
Those first summer games held in Paris were officially called The International Games for the Deaf, but known as the Silent Games.
In 1924 there were 145 athletes from nine European countries. The first winter deaf games were held in Austria in 1949 with 33 athletes from five countries.
The most recent summer Deaflympics was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2005 and drew 2,200 athletes from 70 countries.
The games officially became the Deaflympics in 2000. Participation in the Deaflympics is limited to those who have a hearing loss of at least 55 decibels in the better ear — essentially a need to use some visual means to converse either in lip reading or a sign language, Benedict said.