For the first time in history, Ukraine has won 19 medals at the Winter Deaflympics.
This was reported by the press service of the National Committee of Sports for the Disabled of Ukraine, Kommersant Ukrainian reports
It is reported that of the 19 medals won, 10 are gold, 5 are silver and 4 are bronze. The Ukrainians are ahead of China (7 gold medals), Austria (6), Poland (5) and Italy (1).
This is a record-breaking performance for Ukraine at the Deaflympics, both in terms of the number of golds and the total number of medals won.
The Ukrainian Deaflympians more than doubled the gold medal result of the previous Deaflympics – 2019, which were historic in terms of winning high awards (4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze) and 8 medals more in terms of the number of medals.
A total of 598 athletes with hearing impairments from 36 countries took part in the main competitions of the quadrennium (493 athletes from 34 countries took part in the XIX Deaflympics in Valtellina-Valchiavanna (Italy)). The largest number of athletes was represented by the national teams of Turkey – 55, Italy – 42 and Japan – 39.
The Deaflympics are the highest-level sports competitions sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee for people who are deaf.
During Ukraine’s debut in the 1999 Winter Deaflympics in Davos (Switzerland), Ukrainian Deaf athletes failed to win any medals, but in 2003, in Sunsvall (Sweden), Ukrainian athletes won their first silver medal.