2019 Winter Deaflympics

The 2019 Winter Deaflympics, officially known as the 19th Winter Deaflympics or XIX Winter Deaflympics, was the 19th edition of the Winter Deaflympics, and took place between the 12th-21st of December in Sondrio Province in Northern Italy.[1] The opening ceremony was held in Sondrio on 12 December and curling competition began a day prior to the start of the Winter Deaflympics.[2][3] Sporting events apart from curling commenced on 13 December.[4]

19th Winter Deaflympics
Official logo
Host cityProvince of Sondrio
 Italy
MottoWe Need a Chance
Nations participating34
Athletes participating485 (362 men and 123 women)
Events36 in 6 sports
Opening ceremony12 December 2019
Closing ceremony21 December 2019
Officially opened byMarco Scaramellini
Winter
Summer
The relief map of Italy

36 events took place in 6 sports: alpine skiing, chess, cross-country skiing, curling, ice hockey and snowboarding.[5] Initially 32 sporting events were slated to be held but three more events were added to the competition by the organisers due to the inclusion of chess, which was a surprise move.[6] Chess made its debut at the 2019 Winter Deaflympics.[7][8]

The 19th Deaflympics were the second time Italy hosted the event, previously hosting the 1983 games in Madonna di Campiglio.[9] The Deaflympics was organised by the Federazione Sport Sordi Italia, the national deaf sports federation in Italy, affiliated with the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.[10]

Background

The hosting of the event raised concerns in May 2018 following the house arrest of former ICSD President Valery Rukhledev in 23 May 2018 regarding the embezzlement of $803,800 from the All-Russian Society of the Deaf while he was serving as the post of the society as well as the post of ICSD President.[11] Valery Rukhledev later stepped down from the position on 31 July 2018 and he later replaced by Australian Rebecca Adam for the ICSD Presidential position on 1 August 2018 causing further controversy as top Deaf sports movements criticised the appointment of Rebecca Adam without proper consent and approval.[12][13]

On 13 September 2018, on a press release the newly appointed ICSD President Rebecca Adam confirmed that the Winter Deaflympic event would take place as planned and scheduled during December 2019.[14][15]

Bidding

It was revealed that in around 2017, former ICSD President Valery Rukhledev had encouraged and requested an application for Almaty, Kazakhstan, after the successful 2017 Winter Universiade, held at the city.[16] However Almaty had not submitted its application to host Winter Deaflympics and instead Italy was chosen as the host country.[17]

After the ousting of Valery Rukhledev, on 14 June 2018, the ICSD and FSSI had a meeting and unanimously agreed to support to stage the 2019 Winter Deaflympics in Italy despite the crisis in the administration of ICSD which started from May 2018.[18]

The Games

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 12 December 2019.[19] The event was officially opened by the Sondrio Province mayor Marco Scaramellini and Italian singer Silvia Mezzanotte sung the national anthem of host country, Italy. Former three time alpine skiing Olympic gold medalist Deborah Compagnoni was invited as special guest during the opening ceremony.[20]

Venues

Three venues were selected to host the sporting events. Santa Caterina di Valfurva hosts three sporting disciplines such as alpine skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing. Madesimo hosts curling competitions while Chiavenna was chosen to host ice hockey and chess events.[21]

VenueLocationSport
Deborah Compagnoni trackSanta Caterina di ValfurvaAlpine skiing[22]
Rifugio BellavistaSanta Caterina di ValfurvaSnowboarding[23]
Pista Sci di Fondo Ski StadiumSanta Caterina di ValfurvaCross-country skiing[24]
Valchiavenna sports centerChiavennaIce hockey[25]
Hotel AuroraChiavennaChess[26]
Circolo SciatoriMadesimoCurling[27]

Participating Nations
The Ukrainian contingent for the 2019 Winter Deaflympics

Sports

The 2019 Winter Deaflympics featured 36 events over 6 sports. Chess was the only new event, and all other sporting events which were part of the 2015 edition were retained.[6] The original idea was that there was a women's ice hockey tournament, but the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf has cancelled the event due to the low number of countries registered on it.[28]

Calendar
OCOpening ceremony ●Event competitions 1Gold medal events CCClosing ceremony
December 11th
Wed		 12th
Thu		 13th
Fri		 14th
Sat		 15th
Sun		 16th
Mon		 17th
Tue		 18th
Wed		 19th
Thu		 20th
Fri		 21st
Sat		 Events
CeremoniesOCCCN/A
Alpine skiing 2 2 2 2 2 10
Chess 2 ● ● ● ● ● 2 4
Cross-country skiing 2 2 2 2 1 9
Curling ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Ice hockey ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1 1
Snowboarding 2 2 2 2 2 10
Daily medal events 8 6 2 4 4 5 2 4 1 36
Cumulative total 8 14 16 20 24 29 31 35 36 36
December 11th
Wed		 12th
Thu		 13th
Fri		 14th
Sat		 15th
Sun		 16th
Mon		 17th
Tue		 18th
Wed		 19th
Thu		 20th
Fri		 21st
Sat		 Events

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Italy)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia (RUS)18181450
2 Italy (ITA)*5027
3 Ukraine (UKR)44311
4 United States (USA)3126
5 Czech Republic (CZE)2417
6 China (CHN)2024
7 Israel (ISR)1001
 Kazakhstan (KAZ)1001
9 France (FRA)0325
10 Finland (FIN)0213
11 Austria (AUT)0145
12 Poland (POL)0112
13 Canada (CAN)0101
 Germany (GER)0101
15 Croatia (CRO)0033
16 South Korea (KOR)0011
Totals (16 nations)363636108

[29]

References
  1. "Arrivano le Winter Deaflympics, le olimpiadi silenziose | Notizie dal cuore delle Alpi". Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  2. admin. "In a few hours the opening ceremony will take place in Sondrio – 19 Winter Deaflympics". Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  3. admin. "Curling photo day 2 – 12 December – 19 Winter Deaflympics". Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  4. "Deaflympics 2019, l'inaugurazione a Sondrio FOTO". Giornale di Sondrio (in Italian). 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  5. Simmonds, Jason. "Prince Edward Islander looking to win gold medal in ice hockey at Winter Deaflympics | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  6. "Winter Deaflympics set to start in Sondrio despite controversial build-up". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  7. "19th Winter Deaflympics". deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  8. "2019 Winter Deaflympics". CDSA. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  9. "Winter deaflympics games in dicembre in Valchiavenna e Valtellina". Askanews (in Italian). 2019-11-27. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  10. "Italy Declares Candidature for the 2019 Winter Deaflympics". www.deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  11. "Italy set to host delayed Winter Deaflympics as concerns remain over President arrested in Russia". www.insidethegames.biz. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  12. "Deaf sports crisis deepens after almost 50 countries oppose appointment of new ICSD President". www.insidethegames.biz. 2018-08-01. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  13. "ICSD (Deaflympics) Board Presidential Coup "Unacceptable" AccordingTo ICSD Members". aroundtherings.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  14. "ICSD President's Message on 2019 Winter Deaflympics". www.deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  15. "ICSD President's Greeting to the 2019 Winter Deaflympics OC". www.deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  16. January 2018, Meruyert Abugaliyeva in Sports on 4 (2018-01-04). "Deaflympics encourages Almaty to apply to host 2019 Winter games". The Astana Times. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  17. INFORM.KZ. "Almaty may host 2019 Winter Deaflympics". www.inform.kz (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  18. "2019 Winter Deaflympics Update - Italy confirmed for 2019 Winter Deaflympics". www.deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  19. Detto, Lorenzo Fascendiniha (2019-11-12). "Winter Deaflympics 2019: manca un mese ai Giochi Olimpici dei sordi". Giornale di Sondrio (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  20. "Winter Deaflympics Opening Ceremony held as curling competition continues". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  21. "19th Winter Deaflympics". deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  22. "Alpine Skiing".
  23. "Snowboarding".
  24. "Cross-country skiing".
  25. "Ice hockey".
  26. "Chess".
  27. "Curling".
  28. "Cancellation of Women's Hockey 2019 Winter Deaflympics in Italy – Manitoba Deaf Sports Association". Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  29. "Medals". Official website.
Preceded by
2015 Khanty-Mansiysk		 Winter Deaflympic Games
Sondrio Province
XIX Winter Deaflympics (2019)		 Succeeded by
TBA
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