The 23rd Summer Deaflympic Games, which had started on July 18 and brought together more than 3 thousand athletes from 97 countries, ended on the 30th of July.
DeaflympicGB were in attendance once again with a team of 62 athletes, 10 of whom were Scots. GB finished 14th in the medal table wining three golds, one silver and five bronze medals. Significantly, it was the Scottish athletes who were in form as they won seven of the eight individual medals won, whilst three of the four person 100m mixed relay team were Scottish, in the ninth medal.
To put this in perspective; of all the medals given to GB athletes at the Games, 83% of them, including all three golds, hung around the necks of the Scottish athletes. A more than significant contribution!
Leading the way in the medal count was Scotland’s exceptional deaf swimmers, Danielle Joyce and Jack McComish, who amassed 7 medals between them.
Joyce claimed double gold in the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle, as well as double bronze in the 50m backstroke and 4x100m mixed relay. Whilst, McComish delivered gold in the 100m breaststroke, as well as three bronze medals in the 50m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke and 4x100m mixed relay. Both swimmers have been involved in Scottish Disability Sport programmes and are real ambassadors for deaf sport.
Lanarkshire ASC swimmer Shiona McClafferty was also part of the 4x100m mixed relay team that won Bronze.
There was Scottish success on the golf course for Perth’s Steven Cafferty who won bronze, following a playoff, in the sports debut at a Deaflympics.
The Deaflympics is the pinnacle for any deaf athlete and it is the second oldest multi-sport and cultural festival in the world, with a proud history stretching back to the first Games in Paris, in 1924. The event ensures that high performance athletes with a hearing impairment get that same Olympic experience as their hearing counterparts.
For more information please see:
http://ukdeafsport.org.uk/deaflympics/