Deaf sport empowers D/deaf participants at all levels. There is a sense of shared experiences, communication, inclusion, and social connection. Whereas in mainstream sport, D/deaf athletes experience being the lone member of a team, training facilities and/or sport developmental camps. There is a lack of sign-language communication access with their hearing counterparts and sign-language interpreters are rarely provided. Furthermore, they do not have access to coaches who can communicate in sign language or D/deaf coaches who are qualified to coach at the elite levels.

Deafness is considered a hidden disability in that without visual external devices such as hearing aids and other hearing devices, it is invisible to others. Furthermore, not all people with hearing loss benefit from these listening devices and those who do often do not wear them while competing, for any number of reasons (e.g. lack of sweat-proof devices, vulnerability of breaking, rules banning them from competition). Athletes who are D/deaf may share many characteristics in common with hearing athletes, but may also exhibit some unique characteristics.

Deaf/deaf (D/deaf) people are a diverse population with varying levels of athletic skills, hearing loss, cultural and educational backgrounds, and different communication methods and languages. How athletes feel about their hearing loss plays an important part in their personal identification. Athletes with a hearing loss can identify themselves as Deaf, deaf, or hard of hearing. For example, athletes who were born deaf communicate in native sign language and socialise mainly with the deaf community. They may identify themselves as Deaf. The uppercase Deaf refers to a cultural and linguistic minority rather than a medical condition to which the lowercase deaf refers (Padden and Humphries, 1988). For the purpose of this article, the authors define the uppercase Deaf as reference to Deaf people who communicate in sign language and the lowercase deaf as non-signers.

‘deaf sport’ is unique in that Deaf/deaf (D/deaf) athletes, coaches, and sport leaders come together as members of a cultural and linguistic minority to strive to reach the pinnacle of competition in the spirit of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) motto: ‘Equality through Sport’.

This article gives an overview on deaf sport, its rich history, language, issues, and barriers, and the tremendous talent of D/deaf athletes in the Deaflympics, Olympics, and Paralympics.