Today the Opening Ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Summer Games is scheduled to take place in Paris, France.
Over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 nations are expected to take part at these Games.
A record of seven Deaf/Hard of Hearing athletes will also participate at the Games.
They are:
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- MacKenzie ARNOLD from Australia in women’s football;
- Diksha DAGAR, India, women’s golf;
- Meg HARRIS, Australia, women’s swimming;
- Drew KIBLER, USA, men’s swimming;
- Emma MEESSEMAN, Belgium, women’s basketball;
- Aaron SMALL, USA, men’s canoe/kayak, and
- David SMITH, USA, men’s volleyball.
According to my book DEAF ATHLETES AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES, which was published in 2019, the largest number of Deaf/Hard of Hearing participants at the Olympic Games was in 2004 and it had five athletes.
Of the seven above mentioned athletes, only one – Diksha DAGAR – had the experience of taking part at our Deaflympic Games: in 2017 she won a silver medal in golf and in 2022 she was crowned as the Deaflympics champion.
DAD Note: There may be more athletes who qualify under this distinction. Let’s give all athletes our support as they compete in the Paris Games!
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