In 1924, a separate system of sports for the deaf appeared in the world under the leadership of the International Committee for Sports for the Deaf (CISS). The famous Frenchman E. Rubens-Alke (1st President of the CISS managed to gather 133 athletes from Belgium, Great Britain, Hungary, Holland, Italy, Poland, Romania, France, Czechoslovakia at the Paris Presen stadium and competed in athletics, swimming, football, cycling and shooting. These first competitions went down in history as the first World Deaf Games in 1924.
- Rubens-Alke was very fond of football. At every World Deaf Games he was constantly present at football matches.
At the 1995 congress in Helsinki, the ICSD delegates unanimously voted to withdraw from the Paralympic Committee (IPC). The loyal deaf delegates were patriots. For a long time, John Lovett was looking for the word “Deaflympics” and, finally, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch gave the go-ahead.
In 2001, in Rome, the World Deaf Games were renamed the Deaflympics, thanks to the initiative of ICSD President John Lovett and IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.
This is the great work of ICSD!
