ICSD Facts
The first games, known as The Silent Games, in 1924, were the first games ever for athletes with a disability.
The number of athletes in the Summer Games have seen sharp increases in the most recent decade.
In 1924 in Paris, France, 148 athletes from nine European nations took part. In 2017, the 23rd Summer Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey, 2,859 athletes from 86 countries participated.
Today, 113 national deaf sports federations are members of International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.
The first Winter Games, held in Seefeld, Austria, in 1949, included 33 athletes from 5 nations. In 2015, the 18th Winter Deaflympics in Khanty-Mansiysk / Magnitogorsk, the Russian Federation, 336 athletes from 27 countries participated.