WJD 2022: Deaflympics

Written by Pedro Lasuen on 27. May 2022

The International Committee Sport Deaf (ICSD) has the same problems as everyone else. The pandemic has seriously altered the calendar, the routines and the lives of all the athletes who, for more than a year, have not been able to live normally. On May 15, 2022 that wait was over.

Caxias Do Sul was chosen as the place to organize the Deaflympics that should have been held in 2021. Brazil hosted the competition for the first time since judo was selected as an Olympic sport for the deaf in 2004.129 athletes answered the call and left sensational impressions, especially Yerkebulan Kanafin, who won a first gold medal for Kazakhstan in –81kg category, Ukrainian European and World Champion Luka Netiaha, undisputed king of the –90kg category, Mehrdad Seidi, who won a second gold medal for Iran in -100kg, and Frenchman Amadou Meite, champion in +100kg category.

The success of the tournament and the continuity of a calendar have aroused the interest of the different confederations, who are considering the possibility of organizing continental tournaments in Africa and America to further develop judo for the deaf. It is rumored that the next world championships, as well as the next edition of the Deaflympics, will take place in Asia, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

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