A comunidade surda no esporte: um relato de experiência sobre a participação como voluntária na 24ª surdolimpíadas

Abstract

The deaf were the first people with disabilities to promote adapted sports competitions, in which the first Olympic Games for the Deaf were held in France in 1924, which culminated in the creation of Deaf Associations, as well as events aimed at the deaf. With the expansion of associations around the world, in the 1920s, the International Games of Silence were created, which today is known as Deaflympics, which had its current name chosen in allusion to the Olympic Games. The 24th Edition of the Deaflympics was held in Brazil, in the city of Caxias do Sul/RS, an important historical milestone in which the country was the first in Latin America to host the Summer Deaflympic Games. Given this information, the present study aims to present the experience report as a volunteer in the 24th Deaflympics, highlighting the learning and difficulties encountered during the event. This is an Experience Report type study, which aims to present the experiences of an academic from the Physical Education Course at UNIPAMPA as a volunteer in the 24th Deaflympics, held in Caxias do Sul - RS. The event was held from the 1st to the 15th of May 2022, in which approximately 5000 deaf athletes from 80 delegations participated, who participated in 20 sports. It is worth mentioning that this report will be related to the period from 05/01/2022 to 05/07/2022 in which the academic worked at the event. Starting from the organizational point, the development of the event as a whole was efficient, but with some details to be improved. It was possible to notice that although there were many LIBRAS interpreters, there was a lack of interpreters who spoke more than one sign language who were directly involved with the organization of the event, mainly in the pavilion, as I witnessed athletes from other countries with difficulties to locate themselves, mainly during the first days of the event. It is worth noting that despite this, the cultural exchanges and experience in an event of Olympic proportions was extremely rewarding. It was concluded that sport is a great cultural tool for building deaf identities and that the country also needs a more incisive teaching of the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) to facilitate communication and inclusion of deaf people.