The ICSD Executive Board have concluded that in order to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Deaflympics and the International Community, the 2021 Summer Deaflympics in Brazil must be rescheduled and the date of 1st – 15th May has been agreed.
We know that the impact of COVID-19 over the past 11 months has been challenging for everyone, particularly our deaf athletes who have been unable to train and prepare for domestic and future international competitions.
Over the past year we have worked closely with both our athletes and performance advisory group alongside our deaf sports to discuss the planning of these games.
We welcome this decision to postpone the games and believe it brings great benefits in relation to better equip and ensure our athletes are given the much-needed time and space to both mentally and physically prepare to compete.
We will not stop our planning and will continue to lead and support our athletes and deaf sports in their own planning and preparations to attend the games in 2022.
This time will also be used to continue the conversations we are having around deaf athlete recognition and funding, including the identification of funders and sponsors to support the DeaflympicsGB team.
We know that the ICSD will continue to monitor the official updates of COVID-19 so that the health and safety of everyone continues to be cared for. We will also continue to monitor the updates of COVID-19 in the UK and continue with our key work to support athletes returning to and continuing their training when restrictions are lifted.
UK Deaf Sport will make sure to share regular updates on the delivery of key activities leading up to the attendance of the Games next year.
If you have any questions about the DeaflympicsGB, please get in touch by emailing us at admin@ukds.org.uk.
(Article updated 26th Feb 2020)
