Paris Olympics-Part 1: Six Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Athletes
Deaf athletes in the regular Olympics????
It is an ancient story. The answer is YES-!!!
Nineteen (19) athletes with hearing loss have participated in the regular Olympics since 1908. Click the Wikipedia List to see the names. I am adding the 19th one—Nina Cutro-Kelly of the USA, who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and won the gold medal in the judo event +78kg (Women) in the 2022 Deaflympics. Ten of them also competed in the Deaflympics.
Whoa! What is the difference between the Deaflympics and the traditional Olympics?
NOTHING other than the two following rules to participate in the Deaflympics:
deaf, defined as a hearing loss of at least 55 dB in the better ear (3 tone frequency average of 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hertz, ANSI 1969 standard); and
not using hearing aids or external cochlear implant aids during any Deaflympics event.
These rules became effective in the 1981 World Games for the Deaf (renamed Deaflympics in 2001).
On June 13, 1955, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) as an “International Federation with Olympic standing.” On May 16, 2001, the IOC officially recognized the new name of the World Games for the Deaf as “Deaflympics.”
NOTE: I have listed the athletes below who could meet the 55 dB rule, although there are several more athletes, such as USA’s Swimmer Drew Kibler, who do not meet that rule.
1. Swimmer Meg Harris of Australia
Please read this interesting article: Meg Harris: Aussie Olympic gold medal-winning swimming star reveals how she kept her disability a secret (Updated on July 15, 2024.)
Hearing Loss:
“Swimming sensation Meg Harris was just 6 when she found she had 60 percent hearing loss in one ear and 45 in the other.” - PressReader.
Previous Olympic Experience:
Participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and took gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Paris Olympics: Biography and Result
Click HARRIS Meg
Deaflympic Experience:
Some articles mentioned that her better ear has a 45 percent loss, which is borderline to meet the 55dB rule. Naturally, aging could increase the percentage. Therefore, her chance to compete in the 2025 Tokyo Deaflympics is questionable, but it could be possible in the 2029 Deaflympics (at her age of 27.)
My Aussie Deaflympians informed me that they are unsure whether Harris knew about the Deaflympics. However, the ten-minute-long video below did not mention the Deaflympics.
Watch the 2019 Deaf Sports Australia Facebook video—Interview with Meg Harris. (They used the Australian Sign Language, so read the captions.)
Suppose Harris decides to enter the 2025 Tokyo Deaflympics, she could likely break at least two Deaflympic swimming records: Women's 50m Freestyle and Women's 100m Freestyle.
2. Footballer MacKenzie Arnold of Australia
Hearing Loss:
"My hearing’s not great, I'm not going to lie. It's probably about 70 percent hearing," said Arnold in October 2022. She took a hearing test because she was curious to find out how much her hearing was lost since her brother had worn hearing aids since he was a toddler.
She started wearing a hearing aid in April 2023.
Read the ESPN article, “Australia's World Cup hero Arnold on dealing with hearing loss.” (August 15, 2023)
Previous Olympic Experience:
Arnold competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Paris Olympics: Biography and Result
Click ARNOLD Mackenzie
Deaflympic Experience:
My Aussie Deaflypians told me that Arnold is not deaf-cultured. [NOTE: When she found out about her hearing loss was five months after the last Deaflympics in May 2022]
“ 70 percent hearing” could not meet the 55dB rule. She could have to take another hearing test since aging could increase the percentage.
Click Audiogram Regulations to check if you or your friends could be eligible to participate in the Deaflympics.
3. Basketball Player Emma Meesseman of Belgium
Hearing Loss:
“Born with only 50 percent hearing, Emma has moderate hearing loss in both ears and has been wearing hearing aids since she was a child.” Phonak Hearing Aids
Previous Olympic Experience:
Meesseman played basketball in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Paris Olympics: Biography and Result
Click MEESSEMAN Emma
Messeman was selected to be a female flagbearer.
Deaflympic Experience:
My Belgian Deaflympians told me that Meesseman is not involved with the deaf community in Belgium, so they have no idea what Meesseman knows about the Deaflympics.
Meeseman was a Washington Mystics player in the USA, so many of her deaf fans greeted her. Just look at the picture of her with the girls of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
4. Kayaker Aaron Small of the U.S.A
Hearing Loss:
“Diagnosed with bilateral moderate-severe hearing loss at 4 years old, Aaron has been wearing hearings aids since kindergarten.” Phonak Hearing Aids
He uses American Sign Language, which he minored in at the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington).
Click “Seattle Olympian Aaron Small hopes to raise awareness for athletes with hearing aids” (July 24, 2024)
Previous Olympic Experience:
None. The Paris Games is Small’s first Olympics.
Paris Olympics: Biography and Result
Click SMALL Aaron
Deaflympic Experience:
No kayaking events in the Deaflympics.
5. Volleyball Player David Smith of the U.S.A.
Hearing Loss:
“Smith was born nearly deaf, with 80 to 90 percent hearing loss, and relies on hearing aids and lip reading to communicate” - NBC Sports.
He could meet the 55dB rule quickly.
Read “The Life of Deaf Volleyball Star David Smith.” (February 14, 2024)
Previous Olympic Experience:
Smith played volleyball at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Great Britain, the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the 2021 Games in Tokyo, Japan.
He took a bronze medal in the 2021 Games.
Paris Olympics: Biography and Result
Click SMITH David
Deaflympic Experience:
Smith has always known about the Deaflympics but has chosen to focus on his overseas pro and national team with the USA Volleyball.
The USA Deaf Volleyball Executive Director said that Smith has been on their list for the last ten years. If Smith finally participates in the 2025 Tokya Deaflympics, he could be the 11th athlete to compete in both the Deaflympics and the regular Olympics.
6. Golfer Diksha Dagar of India
Hearing Loss:
Dagar already passed the 55 dB rule in 2017.
NOTE - When you pass this rule, you can compete in the Deaflympics for the rest of your life - such as bowling or chess.)
Peek on “DIKSHA DAGAR ON EUROPEAN TRAIL TO PREPARE FOR PARIS 2024, SAYS 'WANT TO COMPETE HARD AT OLYMPICS” (May 14, 2024)
Previous Olympic Experience:
Dagar was the last-minute entry in the 2021 Toyko Olympics after two other women withdrew from the Games and finished at 50th rank.
Paris Olympics: Biography and Result
Click DAGAR Diksha
Deaflympic Experience:
Dagar won a silver medal in the women’s golf event at the 2017 Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey.
She grabbed the gold in the same event in the 2022 Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
Please let me know if there are more D/HH athletes in the Paris Olympics.