Category Archives: Deaf Sport

First Deaf Woman Conquers Everest

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Shayna Unger has become the first profoundly deaf woman to climb Mount Everest.

According to gearjunkie.com Shayna and her climbing partner Scott Lehmann who is also profoundly deaf, peaked the summit at 6 a.m. on May 22, 2023.

Unger and Lehmann have been using their Everest expedition to inspire and educate their deaf students and they have an excellent website. with some amazing video footage of their climbs

The first Deaf person to climb Everest was Japanese Deaflympian Satoshi Tamura an alpine skiier, on May 21, 2016, 7 years ago.

Photo: scottshayna.com

Lehmann and Unger have already climbed Denali, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc and Aconcagua as an all-Deaf team. They have now completed four of the World’s seven big summits.

Bravo!

ICSD Ask Rukhledev to return his Medal of Honor

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The disgraced former ICSD President Valery Rukhledev as been removed from the list of ICSD Medal of Honor recipients and he has been asked to return the award.

Valery Rukhledev

Rukhledev was the 9th ICSD President form 2013 -2018 despite concerns about his integrity to hold office. The Russian Deaf community had long been dissatisfied with VOG, the All-Russian Society of the Deaf of which he also presided whilst ICSD president.

As we reported here, earlier this month, Rukhledev has been sentenced to seven years on a penal colony for his part in embezzling funds relating to VOG. Because of this, the ICSD Executive has decided to withdraw the medal of Honor that he was awarded in 2017 in recognition of his contributions to international deaf sports. The Executive decided that ‘Mr Rukhledev no longer meets the criteria for this esteemed award.’

ICSD Still Employing Rebrov – People ask ‘What is Going on’?

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The global Deaf community has reacted in frustration to the ICSD handling of further misdemeanours by their Russian-based CEO.

Earlier this month, Deaf sports community watchers were alerted to the fact that the ICSD CEO was endorsing and leading Russia’s plans to hold their own government sponsored, ‘Alternative Summer Deaflympics’ because they, along with Belarus are banned from international competitions due to their stance on the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Nothing wrong with Russia doing their own thing, they have to to everything they can to keep the Russian population in the dark on what’s happening in Ukraine.

But a news video broadcasted on You Tube by Russian Deaf Television, shows Dmitry Rebrov, the employee of the ICSD and supposed guardian of the Deaflympic brand, endorsing the “Alternative Deaflympic Summer Games” in Ufa, Russia.

video created by Russian Deaf TV

Shocked by this blatant disregard for the integrity of Deaf sport, and a claim that Russia intends to invite other nations to participate, the Deaflympic historian Pinchas, shared the story and video on 3rd March asking what ICSD planned to do about it.

On 21st March, ICSD issued a statement that:

“According to our current information, the sports event is organised by the Government of the Russian Federation and the All-Russian Sports federation of Deaf Sport (OSFSG). The sports organisation is not a member of the ICSD. According to the sports federation, the word “Deaflympics” will not be used officially at the event.

The ICSD will not give any form of permission for the use of the word ‘Deaflympics’ and will closely monitor the organisation of the Russian Summer Games of Deaf Athletes “We are Together” and if necessary, take action and take any necessary steps against any possible unlawful use of the word “Deaflympics”.

The statement finished by explaining their actions towards Rebrov: “Mr. Dmitry Rebrov has agreed to refrain from promoting and organising the Summer Games of Deaf Athletes “We are Together Sport”.

Once again, people are feeling that Rebrov brings the ICSD and the Deaflympics into disrepute, and infuriated Deaf people have commented on this direct to ICSD, that stronger action should be taken by the ICSD Board. Indeed how on earth are they going to ‘closely monitor‘ what’s going on in Russia ?

“Imagine if the well known Deaf sports historian did not post (the story) on social media it would have made things worse for ICSD. Why didn’t the ICSD CEO inform ICSD about the alternative Deaflympics in the first place. It sounds very strange and awkward.” Donal Desmond

“While Russian athletes are banned from competing in most international sport, due to multiple state sponsored doping and their highly illegal invasion of Ukraine, ICSD should not be employing a Russian! He has been guilty of audiogram fraud. This undermines ICSD’s efforts to build a good reputation” John Neilson

Of course, Miguel Alejandro and others are wondering “why all the fuss” when we should be promoting and putting Deaf athletes first. But this is seen as ignorant and the lack of concern for the unprofessionalism and disregard shown by Rebrov continues to go unchecked.

The lukewarm reactions by non-Western nations to Russian doping, audiogram frauds, imposter athletes and ICSDs continuance to employ a Russian to oversee Deaf sport and to appoint Russians as Technical Directors etc reflects the geopolitical attitude towards the West that we see in mainstream society and such sentiments are no different in the global Deaf community. Perhaps that explains why Rebrov still has a job and why, as far as we know, the IOC has not yet restored it’s funding and full support to ICSD.

Former ICSD President Sentenced to 7 years in a Penal Colony

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The court sentenced the ex-head of VOG Rukhledev to 7 years in prison for a multi-million dollar embezzlement

The Khamovniki Court of Moscow today, March 22, 2023, sentenced the former president of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG) Valery Rukhledev to 7 years in a penal colony in the case of multimillion-dollar embezzlement of the organization’s funds.

According to TASS, “the court decided to find Rukhledev guilty and sentence him to 7 years in a penal colony,” the judge announced the decision.

In addition, the court announced the verdict for other defendants. Thus, the former VOG lawyer Yevgeny Novoseltsev was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, and the court appointed Tatyana Zembatova, head of the finance department, 4.5 years in a penal colony.

According to media reports, a criminal case on the theft of more than 300 million roubles in the All-Russian Society of the Deaf was initiated in 2018 under the article fraud on an especially large scale, it was then that the investigation detained Novoselets, who also headed the VOG subsidiary. Later, the then president of the VOG, Rukhledev, Zembatova, and legal assistant Irina Rudenko were detained. The Rudenko case was separated into a separate proceeding and considered in a special order, since she repented and fully admitted her guilt.

Rukhledev was also President of the ICSD (International Deaf Sport for the Deaf) he was elected in 2013 and then removed after he was placed under house arrest in 2018.

Russian Deaflympic Gold medallist sues former ICSD President of Slander

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The legal representatives of the Russian beach Volleyball athlete Rushan Dayanov have filed a lawsuit of slander to protect his honour and dignity against accusations made by Valery Rukhledev in a TV interview that he is in fact hearing and should not be competing in deaf sport.

Extract from Video: Dayanov having an audiometry test (copyright DEAFNET)

We are grateful to readers of our website who have alerted us to this case. The information is available on the Russian website DEAFNET from October 2022. It also has a video of Dayanov as he has a hearing test to prove that his deafness meets ICSD standards of 55dB or more in the better ear.

The story came about after ICSD received an anonymous latter claiming that the athlete has fraudulently won a Beach Volleyball gold medal at the 2005 Deaflympics in Melbourne. Such accusation are very serious for Russian athletes because if they are disqualified, they not only lose their medal but also a pension from the government.

Dayanov and Ivanov at the medal ceremony (copyright DEAFNET)

Dayanov’s team-mate in the Beach Volleyball competition was Stanislav Ivanov the head of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG) which suggests that the letter was actually written by disgruntled former employees at VOG who have a vendetta against Ivanov and that Dayanov has become the scapegoat.

Ruslan Daryakuliev, Dayanov’s Lawyer (copyright DEAFNET)

The lawyer representing Dayanov claim to have irrefutable proof of his hearing loss and in the video, the athlete said “I achieved the championship with sweat and blood, worked hard for 20 years to deserve this prize- not only for myself, but first of all the country. This whole situation was an absolute shockfor me. I have nothing to hide. It hurts that for the sake of petty intrigues, swindlers are ready to break a persons life.”

The lawyer Daryakuliev promises that the response to slander would be ‘extremely harsh’. The defendants in the case are Rukhledev, the All-Russian Television of the Deaf and its editor in chief Alexander Soldatov. Applications have already been prepared to initiate criminal cases under the charge of ‘slander’.

Valery Rukhledev, former ICSD President speaking to All-Russian Deaf TV (copyright DEAFNET)

The video in the article shows Rukhledev talking to All-Russian Deaf TV “Dyanov spoke among the deaf, but in fact he is 100% hearing”. he speaks fluently and does not know sign language. This is already a global scandal.”

This case does raise issues around the proof that athletes require to compete in international deaf sports. In the athlete’s defence it has been explained that he has speech that is almost indistinguishable from that of hearing people because he did not become deaf until he was 10 years old after a serious illness. Comments on the website suggest that it may be very difficult to prove what his hearing was like in 2005, because Dayanov is now 62/63 years of age and likely that he would present such a level of deafness for his age.

The video showing Dayanov’s Deaflympic medals (Copyright DEAFNET)

His last Deaflympic competition was in 2017 when he won a bronze medal in the beach Volleyball.

The lawyer also argues that the Russian Deaflympic committee should not be undertaking disciplinary checks on the basis of an anonymous letter and should have taken measures to protect athletes from anonymous accusations and identifying the authors of such letters.

Russian Deaflympic team with President Putin (copyright DEAFNET)

We have no updates on this case, perhaps our readers will keep us informed?

You can rind the full article on DEAFNET website

ICSD Ignores the ban on Russian and Belarussian officials

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Two Big Ears raises the question about the appointment of a Russian citizen as TD for orienteering

ICSD have just announced the latest list of ICSD Technical Directors for Deaf sports.

We draw your attention to the continued appointment of the TD for Orienteering who is a Russian citizen.

This post is not questioning the competency of the TD themselves, they are capable of their job.

We are questioning the lack of judgement and consistency of ICSD decision making with regards to the ban of Russian and Belarussian athletes and officials from international sport.

We assume that ICSD orienteering is run under the rules of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) and according to the IOF website:

“Can a IOF Event Advisor from Russia/Belarus be appointed as an Event Advisor for an event in another Federation?” The answer is “No”.

The role of an ICSD Technical Director operates in the capacity of an ‘Events Advisor’ to the organising committee of the ICSD Deaflympics and World Championships.

We suggest that the ICSD member countries should ask the ICSD Legal Commission to review this appointment and satisfy the international Deaf community that it is operating within the parameters of the international ban and it’s own commitments and obligations to that ban.

Screenshots of the IOF website are available below

Making sure that ICSD is Inclusive

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Two Big Ears responds to a reader comment that the political views of the ICSD leadership might not be inclusive and suggest what needs to happen.

Commenting our our last post (What can Deaf sports expect from the new ICSD Leadership? ) one of our readers was concerned about ICSD not being inclusive enough:

“I am mostly worried about inclusiveness with Kosa at the wheel. Him coming from an extremist right wing party, voting against inclusive policies/laws to promote LGBTQIA+-rights don’t speak for his position as leader, to be honest. Maybe the board of ICSD needs to be as diverse as possible before being able to make any differences in the international Deaf sports atmosphere” Two Big Ears Reader.

There are no subtitles to this video, it is a BSL translation of this post.

This reader’s comment of concern regarding the political affiliations and voting decisions of the ICSD leaders elected to represent deaf athletes is a very important subject. All organisations must decide what and whom they represent and protect. As in the case against Russia and Belarus, not all countries voted to, or agreed with the decision to ban these two nations from international competitions, but the majority have and therefore the motion was passed.

In the case of the recent elections to choose the new leadership of the ICSD, the evidence presented to the floor came from the candidates themselves, through their personal statements and attached letters of support. It was then up to the representatives of each country to decide whether or not they had the full information available to them, if not, they were free to carry out their own due diligence to help them come to a decision. Who knows, perhaps some delegates were already aware of the political affiliations and beliefs of all those elected and then cast their votes accordingly. 

The final point made by our reader highlights the need for greater diversity within the organisation, Congress has elected both men and women into positions of responsibility. Its not perfect, there is always more that could be done to address the balance. From what we already know about the political history of the ICSD and the barriers that limit Deaf people’s access to information and human rights, it would be fair to assume that many decision makers in the various levels and roles within the global ICSD framework do not adhere to nor uphold the concepts of inclusion, equality and diversity.

Let’s hope that those who have been elected remember always that they do not work FOR Kosa they work WITH him as an EQUAL and with all their other Executive colleagues who have been elected. If there are acts of discrimination by anyone affiliated to ICSD (officials, staff, technical directors, coaches and athletes etc) then it is expected that this will be called out for what it is and dealt with appropriately. 

Finally, the responsibility for electing the ICSD leadership is in the hands of those who vote at Congress (the national Deaf sport federation officials). Perhaps after reading this post, you want more information about the elections and how your national representatives voted. If you are a member of their organisations, you have a right to ask questions and be satisfied that Deaf sport leaders, all over the world are all practicing diversity, inclusion and equity in their approach to the development of Deaf sport.

As always, we respond to comments, questions etc from our readers – share your views with us here

Japan Withdraws Its Entire Team from the Summer Deaflympics

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With five days still remaining at the Summer Deaflympics in Brazil, Japan has decided to ‘abstain from all competitions‘ in order to prevent a spread of Covid-19 infections amongst everyone involved with the games and the local population.

Writing to the ICSD and all its members, the Japanese officials have explained that with their experience of hosting the 2021 Olympics and Paralympics, Japan incurred additional expenses to accommodate all its athletes and officials in single rooms and hired all their own private transport to move from hotels to training and competition venues. Furthermore, each of their sports team were isolated from each other to avoid any potential cross-sport infections.

Despite all these additional precautions, 10 of their athletes and one official are currently self- isolating after producing positive PCR tests. Japan is complaining that countermeasures against Covid-19 at sports venues is inadequate and that the number of Japanese athletes infected and the number of last minute withdrawal of athletes from other countries (for reasons unknown) suggest that there is likely to be a further increase of infection amongst those attending the games. To encourage people to participate, the organisers ensured that PCR checks/tests would be carried out on arrival at the airport to separate and isolate those who were infected, according to Japan, this did not take place.

They have written an official protest letter to ICSD and the host organising committee to complain that:

  1. ICSD and the Organising Committee failed to fulfil their responsibilities to implement Covid-19 measures
  2. ICSD and the Organising Committee did not carry out PCR test on participants
  3. Japan should not be fined for late mass withdrawal from competitions
  4. ICSD shall instruct its members not to discriminate or exclude anyone on the grounds of Covid-19

The final complaint was made because Italy’s volleyball team asked their opponents Japan to prove that their athletes had tested negative for Covid-19 without themselves being subject to the same testing. Italy apologised to Japan when they realised the discriminatory nature of their demands.

Japan concluded that due to ICSD and the organisers not having enough money to provide countermeasures, the games will be remembered as a Games of Fear.

All the above information was obtained from official Japanese letters on 11th May 2022.

Deaflympics Taking Place in Caxias Do Sul, Brazil

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The official website of the 24th Summer Deaflympics is available at https://www.deaflympics2021.com/

The top three in the medals table so far:

Image taken from http://www.deaflympics2021.com

Russians used body doubles for Deaflympic Audiogram Testing

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12 days ago, we were sent a message alerting us to fraudulent activity by Russian Deaf Ice Hockey to enter hearing players into the Deaflympics.

Our messenger claimed that they were approached by a Russian whistle-blower maintaining that the Russian Deaf Ice Hockey team have been cheating for years, using hearing players at the European, World and Deaflympic competitions. For their evidence they shared links to Russian on-line news website which we have checked and verified. The article is an interview with Vyacheslav Rakhin who competed in the 2003, 2007 Winter Deaflympics and honoured with the title Master of Sport, Russia. The article appeared one week after the completion of the 2015 Deaflympics hosted in the Russian resort of Khanty-Mansiysk.

In the interview, published in November 2015, Rakhin talks openly about revealing the murkier side of Deaf sport as well as his business life after professional ice-hockey. Our source says that there was another interview in December 2015 where Rakhin denied everything, “we believe someone in Russia got mad about his older interview and told him to fix this up.”

Although the activities described in this interview took place in 2003, the Russian whistle-blower says that hearing players were used in the team at the World Deaf Championships 2013 and Deaflympics 2015.

Here is our summary of the news article on the Russian website, we invite our readers to judge for themselves and read the news sources at the end of this post.

Rakhin says that the Executive Board of Russia’s national team knew he was hearing “It was no secret, except to the medical committee.” whom he managed to convince that he was deaf.

Competing as a professional, Rakhin was approached in 1995 but the Russians felt that he would be too high profile and suspicious and instead, concentrated on players from Novosibirsk where they had a core of players from the school for the Deaf competing in local leagues.

When he retired, he was asked to compete in the 2003 Deaflympics. As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) he had learnt to lip-read and became fluent in sign language. The team coach was from Tver, and they strengthened the team with two more hearing players but the big problem was how to pass the hearing test organised by the medical committee.

Rakhin was able to pass the test because he understood how to behave the like a Deaf person “my mother couldn’t her the doorbell, but she could hear knocking.” Knowing that she could not hear high frequency sounds only low frequency – he applied this tactic during the test.

He tried to coach the other two players into passing the test, but the doctor was able to spot they were hearing because “they just stared at one spot without reacting to anything.” The doctor made some notes and then turned around to challenge the “cheaters”.

Because of the failure, people from a “higher level” had to find an agreement with the doctor as ‘the executive board of the national team pleaded “that there was a great need on behalf of our country, because without these players we will be kaput” At first, the doctor objected and said that she would get into trouble, but it appears that she was persuaded to issue false audiograms.

To be able to pass the audiogram tests at the Deaflympics, the team officials had to bring body doubles to attend the mandatory test in place of the two players and they needed deaf people who closely resembled them. It was a difficult task, but eventually they found two deaf men who vaguely looked like the two hearing players, one who was bald and the other with red hair. The first person was forced, under protest, to shave his head and the red-haired impostor managed to cover up his athlete accreditation with his hands, enough to pass the scrutineers.

Rakhin explained that this might be very difficult to achieve nowadays because the technology is more sophisticated.

The Russians received 10,000 rubles each for winning the bronze medal in 2003 and a monthly stipend of 16,000 a month for four years. In 2007 they each received 30,000 a month for winning the silver.

The original articles are found at:

http://sport.business-gazeta.ru/article/122217/

https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/130016

Vyacheslav Rakhin Deaflympic profile https://www.deaflympics.com/athletes/vyacheslav-rakhin