This week, the Great Britain (GB) team are making their final preparations for 23rd Summer Deaflympics 2017. A delegation of 92 athletes, coaches, officials and support staff will travel to Samsun, Turkey next week ahead of competition from 18-30 July.
From 18-30 July Samsun, Turkey will host 4,500 deaf athletes from 109 countries for the 23rd Summer Deaflympics. Previously known as the Word Games for the Deaf, The Deaflympics is in International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event for deaf athletes to compete at an elite level. At this year’s Games, competition will take place across 21 disciplines, with 16 individual sports and five team sports.
The DeaflympicsGB delegation, led by Chef de Mission Christof Niklaus will compete in five sports – athletics, football (men and women), golf, swimming and tennis. Full details of DeaflympicsGB squad are available here.
GB Chef de Mission, Christof Niklaus said:
“I’m honoured lead the DeaflympicsGB team to success at the 2017 Deaflympics and it is my intention to make this journey memorable for the participating athletes and officials as the Deaflympics is the pinnacle of deaf sports.”
As the country’s National Disability Sports Organisation for deaf people, UK Deaf Sport is supporting the DeaflympicsGB squad in Samsun this summer. We aim to create more opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing people to lead, participate and perform in sport at an elite level.
We hope that the Summer Deaflympics 2017 will encourage more deaf people to take part in regular sport and physical activity in their local area.
Follow all the action from Deaflympics 2017 on deaflympics2017.org. Show your support for DeaflympicsGB squad this summer on social media, follow @DeaflympicGB on Twitter and use #DeaflympicsGB.
