From the newsroom of the Belfast Telegraph, Belfast, Ireland, Friday, April 22, 2005 .....

Another view of the Deaflympics

Deaf Talkabout by Bob McCullough

Craig Crowley, the chair of UK Deaf Sport, has sent the following letter in response to my article of March 4 suggesting an end to the Deaflympics to enable deaf sportsmen and women to apply for entry to the Paralympics. He says:

While some people might share Mr McCullough's opinion, UK Deaf Sport would like to reply with another perspective. Although the World Games for the Deaf have been largely ignored in the past, the change of name to Deaflympics has enabled society to identify with this event and coverage has been far greater than at any other time in history.

CISS (the International Committee of Sport for the Deaf) have re-branded themselves as Deaflympics and have begun a modernisation programme in earnest. The 2005 event was comparatively better organised than any in history, having been spearheaded by CEO Trish Tracey who also modernised the 2002 Commonwealth games in Manchester.

While Deaflympic records may not, on the whole, reach Olympic Standards, they are catching up and the standards could be compared with the Commonwealth Games, the World Student Games and UK National Championships where these events give young people the opportunity to compete at the highest levels and are then selected for Olympic honour.

We expect to see more deaf athletes competing in the Olympics as a result of their experience in the Deaflympics.

The athletes and officials of the GB team strongly object to the suggestion by observers that they are involved in the Deaflympics principally for social reasons. Members of the GB team trained, prepared and performed 100% while in Australia and only allowed themselves to relax once their events had fully concluded. The spectators and supporters do the socialising, as is the norm in all major sporting events.

UK Deaf Sport also provides development and performance pathways to achieve both Olympic and Paralympic (deaf with another significant qualifying disability) participation. Improved technology, with starting lights at athletics, swimming and waterpolo, now enable deaf people to function on a professional par with hearing peers. It is, therefore, very premature to think that the Deaflympics should be abandoned and deaf athletes entered for the Paralympics.'

Craig goes on to talk about deaf gold medal winners at the recent Deaflympics while ignoring my misgivings about the new 55db ruling, which has admitted competitors who are not really members of the deaf community.

Craig debated the matter with me when we were filmed at the See Hear studio in London and while I very much respect the work he has been doing to resurrect the often moribund deaf sporting world, the questions I posed were not answered to my satisfaction.

Many deaf people maintain they are not disabled in the accepted sense and merely linguistically impaired. But, as I said on the TV programme, it is my opinion that deafness affects the quality of life even more than the loss of an arm or a leg. It would give brilliant worldwide awareness of our problem if this was accepted and we applied for entry to a special category in the Paralympics.

It could be argued that the Deaflympics is an attempt to hold on to the language and customs of the past. If, as so many deaf folk claim, we are not disabled, why are winning times at the Deaflympics so poor compared to those at the Olympics and other major sporting events?

Entry to a special category in the Paralympics by deaf people would offer the same challenge as at present? but a challenge visible on a world scale.

© 2005 Independent News and Media (NI), a division of Independent News & media (UK) Ltd.

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