Milan 1957

Location:Milan, Italy
Opening Date:25 Aug 1957
Closing Date:30 Aug 1957
Nations:25
Athletes:635
     Men:565
     Women:70

For those who know Deaf history, in 1880,  Milan was the site of the infamous international conference of deaf educators, the "Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf."  It was during this conference that a declaration was made against using sign language in schools.

For some, it may be like a twist to have 8th International Silent Games be hosted in Milan, almost 90 years later.  The mission of the Games was to promote unity among the world-wide Deaf by having social, culture and language inclusion of the Deaf community.   This mission was totally in opposition of the educators from the 1880 conference.  They believed that the deaf should be integrated into the hearing community.  

It was also in Milan that the 8th Silent Games had a jump of 162 more athlete participants from 9 more countries than the previous Games in 1953.  That record stood for the next 8 years.

 

 

Countries participated:

CountryMenWomenTotal
Flag: Austria Austria24024
Flag: Belgium Belgium33033
Flag: Bulgaria Bulgaria14216
Flag: Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia21122
Flag: Denmark Denmark14216
Flag: Finland Finland20020
Flag: France France53053
Flag: Germany Germany451560
Flag: Great Britain Great Britain33336
Flag: Greece Greece101
Flag: Hungary Hungary31334
Flag: Iran Iran202
Flag: Israel Israel808
Flag: Italy Italy841195
Flag: Netherlands Netherlands10313
Flag: New Zealand New Zealand101
Flag: Norway Norway11011
Flag: Poland Poland19827
Flag: Romania Romania23528
Flag: Soviet Union Soviet Union161026
Flag: Spain Spain202
Flag: Sweden Sweden16016
Flag: Switzerland Switzerland15015
Flag: United States United States37340
Flag: Yugoslavia Yugoslavia32436
Total56570635