International sports competition for deaf and hard of hearing athletes

It is an international sports competition for deaf and hard of hearing athletes held every four years, with the Summer Games and Winter Games alternating every two years. The first Summer Games were held in France in 1924 and the first Winter Games in Austria in 1949. The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf , founded in 1924 and run by deaf and hard of hearing people themselves, administers the Games, which now have 104 member countries.