The city of Tokyo, Japan will host the 25th Summer Deaflympics from 15 – 26 November 2025. Elite deaf athletes from around the world will come together for 12 days of world-class sports competition and social and cultural activities.

Australia has a proud history of competing at the Deaflympics and have attended all but one Summer Deaflympics since 1965.

The sports that will take place at the 2025 Deaflympics are:

• Athletics
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Beach Volleyball
• Tenpin Bowling
• Cycling (Road)
• Cycling (Mountain Bike)
• Football
• Golf
• Judo
• Karate
• Orienteering
• Shooting
• Swimming
• Table Tennis
• Taekwondo
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Wresting (Freestyle)
• Wrestling (Greco-Roman)

Updates

Regular information updates provided by DSA and the Chef de Mission on the 2025 Deaflympics will include information such as updates on our fundraising efforts, team selection processes, sport event information, training camps, Tokyo information (accommodation, venues, etc.), and other relevant information.

Need more information?

If you have any questions, please contact Bryn Davies, Australian Team Chef de Mission – cdm@deafsports.org.au

A Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section will be added shortly

Qualifying standards (individual sports) and selection process

DSA wants to ensure that the Australian Deaflympic Team is of high quality and competitive against other countries also competing. DSA will follow minimum qualifying standards required in some events such as swimming and athletics as part of the selection process. You can find the minimum qualifying times for these events on the Deaflympics website:

Athletics Qualifying Times

Swimming Qualifying Times

As for other sports such as Cycling (Road and Mountain Bike), the results from the 2021 Deaflympic Games will be forwarded to individuals who have expressed interest in competing these events.

Team sports will go through a selection process organised by the National Deaf Sport Committee (NDSC). You can find out more about your National Deaf Sport Committees

Should you be interested in participating in sports where there is no NDSC (e.g. shooting, orienteering, cycling, etc), please contact DSA directly. Please contact either Phil Harper (General Manager) – phil.harper@deafsports.org.au

ICSD ID number, audiogram and Fee.

If you have not competed in the Deaflympics or any other International competitions for Australia, you need to apply for an ICSD ID number.

To do this, ICSD require an official audiogram signed by an audiologist with hearing test completed in the last 2 years (older audiograms are not accepted).

You will need to share this application form with your audiologist to complete.
https://deaflympics.com/audiogramform.php

When completed please send to info@deafsports.org.au. DSA will forward to the completed audiogram to ICSD for confirmation and we will share the ID number with you.

Note: Each audiogram assessment by ICSD requires a USD$20 payment. You are responsible to pay this fee.

DSA will pay the fee first and then we will send you an invoice for reimbursement. The fee will also include a small international banking charge.

Costs

Deaf Sports Australia (DSA), as the peak deaf sports organisation in Australia, is currently looking for government and other funding to assist with costs to attend the 2025 Deaflympic Games. As with past Deaflympics, Australian Deaflympic Team members have had to contribute towards the cost of sending a team. Costs include airfare, accommodation, meals, support staff (interpreters and medical team), event registration and other expenses. Members usually also do their own fundraising to assist with personal costs.

If you are selected to the Australian Deaflympic Team, you will be advised of how much you will need to contribute towards the costs (levy). The team size may depend on how much funding DSA has been able to raise towards sending an Australian Deaflympic Team.

UPDATES

Chef de Mission Update November 2024
CdM update to DSA Annual General Meeting Video in Auslan
Transcript link

Chef de Mission Update January 2025
Last November, Bryn Davies, Chef de Mission for Australian Deaflympic Team, travelled to Tokyo for the Chef de Mission seminar over 5 days. The trip included a number of plenary sessions, sport venue visits, accommodation tours as well as a visit to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. Here are important updates from the visit:

Deaflympics Square:
For the duration of the Deaflympics, there will be a central hub to facilitate Games Operation Office, media centre, accreditation, audiology testing, ISCD offices, some official accommodation, cultural program and meeting rooms for national teams. It will also act as the main transport hub for athletes to get to sports venues around Tokyo. Technical meetings will be held at this Deaflympics Square, which is located within the National Olympics Youth Memorial Centre (NYC). The Sports Information Centre will be located at this location as well, and will act as the dissemination point for any sports information each day. The Deaflympics Square is likely going to be a good spot for supporters and athletes to interact, with food and drink being available for purchase here.

Transportation and Accommodation:
For athletes and officuals, there will be a number of transport hubs located in central locations to accommodation venues in different parts of Tokyo, with one being confirmed to be at the National Olympic Youth Memorial Centre in Shinjuku. This will be the venue for the Deaflympics Square . Bryn is expecting there to be a transport hub in the Ariake area, where majority of the Australian team will be staying in one accommodation venue, Villa Fontaine Grand Ariake. The transport hubs are proposed to be no longer than a 15 minute walk from any official accommodation venue. Family and friends attending the Deaflympics will have the vast train network that is in Tokyo to get around with ease – there are options for a transit card using smartphones.

Sport Venues:

• Athletics – Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground (close to handball and volleyball venues). This is an open-air stadium that can seat 20k people. Supporters are able to travel to the venue by train and get off at Komazawadaigaku station which is about 300m away.
• Basketball – Ota-City  General Gymnasium that seats 4000. It is located between Umeyashiki and Keikyu Kamata stations.
• Beach Volleyball – Omori Furusato no Hamabe Park. It is accessed by Heiwajima and Omori-machi stations which are about 400-600m away.
• Bowling (tenpin) – Venue will be at Higashiyamo Grandbowl, close to Higashi-Yamatoshi station – around an hour from Tokyo.
• Football – this is mainly held at J-Village in Fukushima, which is about 3-4 hours drive from Tokyo by car. Trains are likely to take as long given the changing of trains along the route. J-Village station is nearby, 5 min walk. It is recommended that supporters stay in Iwaka, which is 40 minutes south of Fukushima if they wish to support our football teams during the Deaflympics.
• Golf – Wakasu Golf Links is the venue for the golf competition, and comprises of 18 holes and a clubhouse. It is around 1.5km from Shin-Kiba station, however there is a shuttle bus being operated by the golf course that may assist supporters to attend.
• Shooting – this is held at Ajinnomoto National Training Centre East, and does not have capacity for supporters to watch at the time of writing. It is located between two train stations that are about 800m away from the venue – Motohasunuma and Itabashi-honcho stations.
• Swimming – This will be held at the venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Tokyo Aquatics Centre which can hold 5,000 people.  It is about 300m walk from Tatsumi station.
• Table Tennis – this will be held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which is also the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. It can seat up to 9,400 people. It is located quite close to two train stations – Sendagaya and Kokuritsu-Kyogijo stations.
• Tennis – some of our tennis athletes will be familiar with this venue being at Ariake Tennis Park, which is the same venue for the invitational event held early November 2024. This venue was used for Tennis at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and boasts over 40 tennis courts. This venue is within walking distance from 3 train stations between 100m-400m away – Ariake Tennis no Mori, Ariake, and Kokusai-Tenjijo stations.

Australian Deaflympic Team

It is now confirmed that we will be fielding teams in basketball and football for both mens and womens, which is a great achievement for deaf sports in Australia. This is the first time since Melbourne 2005 Deaflympics this has been achieved, and it is likely to see the Australian Deaflympic Team size to be the biggest to go overseas in Deaf Sports Australia’s history, likely beating the current biggest overseas ADT that went to Christchurch 1989 Deaflympics – a team of 79 athletes. Melbourne 2005 Deaflympics saw 153 athletes and remains a record for the biggest ADT in our history.

Team Support roles
Team support roles such as interpreters, medical support and assistant Chef de Mission will be advertised shortly – please keep an eye on Deaf Sports Australia and Australian Deaflympic Team social media channels if you are, or know of someone, who may be interested to apply for these roles.

Cheers, Bryn