#deaflympics

When Rymma Filimoshkina practiced the hammer throw in the yard near her house in Mariupol at the start of the Ukraine war, her neighbors thought she was throwing a bomb.

But her "weapon" isn't one of destruction: it just won the 33-year-old deaf athlete a gold medal at the Deaflympics in Brazil.

Thousands of kilometers (miles) from the conflict at home, the Ukrainian team is raking in the medals at the Olympics for the deaf, which opened on May 1 and wrap up Sunday in the southern city of Caxias do Sul.

With two days left to go in the Games, Ukraine had a commanding lead in the medal table, with a total of 116 -- more than double the second-place United States.

"In this event, we show the world we exist: we are Ukraine, a real powerful, independent and democratic country," said Valeriy Sushkevych, president of the Ukraine Paralympic committee.

"One soldier called us and said: in between battles, we support you on TV. Your fighting spirit in sports is very important for us," he told AFP.

Brazil is ready to host the Deaflympics for the first time in the competition's 98-year history, with Caxias do Sul set to welcome the world's best athletes with hearing impairments over the next two weeks.

An Opening Ceremony is scheduled tomorrow, while men's football matches began today.

Russia and Belarus will be notable by their absence, removed from the event by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), which confirmed last month that it was implementing the recommendation from the International Olympic Committee to ban athletes and officials from these countries due to their involvement in the invasion of Ukraine.

ICSD President Gustavo Perazzolo also expressed concern for the National Deaf Sports Federation of Ukraine after making the decision and called for peace.

Kenya 🇰🇪 sets new world record as it takes a clean sweep in the Men’s 5,000m at the Tokyo Deaflympics.

Congratulations Ian Wambui Kahinga, the new 5,000m World champion and record holder, shattering both the Deaflympics and World Records set in 2013. His extraordinary performance has once again placed Kenya at the pinnacle of global athletics.

We also celebrate the exceptional achievement of James Mwanza Musembi, who claimed the silver medal, and Nelson Rotich, who secured the bronze, completing an all-Kenyan podium.

Kenya’s medal tally now stands at:

5 gold

5 silver

4 bronze.

Charlotte Gower won triple gold as Great Britain secured 12 medals at the Deaflympics in Tokyo. Gower, 15, triumphed in the 200m individual medley and the 100m and 200m backstroke events as part of a seven-medal haul in the Japanese capital, which also included silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. British team-mate Katy Wun also won multiple medals in the pool, including golds in the 800m…

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar came up with a superb 11-under in the last round to win by a huge margin and clinch the gold medal at Deaflympics 2025, here on Thursday. The 24-year-old, who had represented the country at the 2017 Deaflympics when the sport was included in the event for the very first time and returned with a silver, finally took the top spot on the podium at the Wakasu Golf Links…