On World Deaf Day in Genk, DSV (Deaf Sports Flanders) will tell you more about the world of deaf sports in Flanders... - On Saturday, September 27, 2025, the annual World Deaf Day will take place in Genk (C-Mine).This year, Deaf Sports Flanders will once again be present with an information booth.But there's also something extra on the program that might interest you: a lecture on Deaf Sports in Flanders.This lecture will be given by two top athletes:Greet Vergult, who won numerous medals at the international level in swimming and later also in athletics.Emiel Schippers became Flemish Youth Champion in tennis and will soon represent Belgium for the first time at the Deaflympics in Japan.This lecture starts at 10:30 am and ends around 12:00 pm.They will tell you more about their athletic careers and their own stories of how they developed themselves and gained self-confidence through sports.Interested?Then register for this lecture!You can do so using the form below (fill out).

The 25th Deaflympics will take place in Tokyo from 15 to 26 November 2025. Tokyo is the capital of Japan.  This is the 3rd time the Deaflympics will take place in Asia-Pacific region. The 1st time it was organised in Taipeh in 2009, then in Melbourne (Australia) in 2005. It is the 2nd oldest multi-sport organisation after the Olympics!The following athletes were selected to participate in these Deaflympics:Christophe Bartholomé from Noduwez (bowling)Michel Rivez from St-Agatha-Berchem (bowling)Vincent Lorant from St-Agatha-Berchem (bowling)Thomas Bartholomé from Noduwez (bowling) Emiel Schippers from Ophoven (tennis)Leendert Desmet from Oudenburg (zwemmen)Kevin De Saedeleer from Aalst (judo)Renaud Malache from Tourinnnes-St-Lambert (judo)Dieter Coussement from Ingelmunster (marathon) Lieven Kind from Bruges was appointed as the Chef de Mission of this delegation. The coaches are:  Dominique De Nolf, Michel Van Assel, Luc Crauwels & Renée De Cramer. The opening ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 04:30 pm local time (9:30 am Belgian time).The schedule for our Belgian athletes is as follows (all local time - there is a 7-hour time difference, see example above)Sunday, November 16Tennis with Emiel Schippers: Qualifications begin in the Singles competition (starting at 10:00 am).Monday, November 17Bowling with Christophe Bartholomé & Michel Rivez in the Singles competition: Qualifications begin (starting at 10:00 am).Judo with Kevin De Saedeleer (under-81 kg class) & Renaud Malache (under-90 kg class): Qualifications and potential finals.Tuesday, November 18Tennis with Emiel Schippers: Qualifications begin in the Singles competition (starting at 10:00 am).Wednesday, November 19Bowling with Christophe Bartholomé & Michel Rivez in the Singles competition: qualifications (starting at 10:30 am).Thursday, November 20Tennis with Emiel Schippers: start of the Singles competition qualifications (starting at 10:00 am).Swimming with Leendert Desmet:10:20 am ; 400m Freestyle: qualifications05:40 pm : 400m Freestyle: finals (if applicable)Friday, November 21Bowling with Christophe Bartholomé & Michel Rivez in the Doubles competition at 10:00 am: qualifications and finals (if applicable) at 05:40 pm.Tennis with Emiel Schippers: start of the Singles competition (starting at 10:00 am).Swimming with Leendert Desmet:10:10 am : 200m freestyle: Qualifications05:10 pm : 200m freestyle: Finals (if applicable)Saturday, November 22Swimming with Leendert Desmet: 10:50 a.m. 800m freestyle: qualifications.Sunday, November 23Bowling with Christophe Bartholomé & Michel Rivez in the Team competition at 10:00 amSwimming with Leendert Desmet:10:30 am : 400m individual medley: qualifications.05:50 pm : 400m individual medley: finals.06:30 pm : 800m freestyle: finals.Tennis with Emiel Schippers: possible semi-finals in the Singles competition (starts at 10:00 am).Monday, November 24Day off.Tuesday, November 25Tennis with Emiel Schippers: a possible final in the Singles competition (starting at 10:00 am).Marathon with Dieter Coussement: starting promptly at 10:00 am local time.Wednesday, November 26Closing ceremony at 04:30 PM.

On Tuesday 25 November 2025 at 10:00 local time, Dieter Coussement will make his debut at the Deaflympics Marathon in Tokyo, Japan. On 18 May 2025, Dieter Coussement (member of the De Haerne Club Kortrijk deaf sports club and the FLAC Oostkamp athletics club) improved the Belgian marathon record to 2:50:35 in Utrecht. His progress since the European Championships in Odense (2023) and the World Championships in Taiwan (2024) has been particularly remarkable. The BDC board therefore unanimously decided to select Dieter for the Deaflympics.Dieter has been training for years under the expert guidance of trainer Yvan Desloovere (FLAC Oostkamp) and technical director Marina Demunter, and this is now yielding fruitful results for him. On site, he will be accompanied by Jan Van den Braembussche (Bruges) and Lieve Roodhooft (Schoten), who also personally accompanied Dieter at the 2024 World Championships in Taiwan.The top favourites to watch in this marathon are the following athletes:Otto Kingstedt (SWE)Kohichiro Yamanaka (JAP)Takuro Aoyama (JAP)Kosuke Nakano (JAP)Michal Stanovsky (CZE), gold medal winner in Caixas do Sul (Deaflympics 2022)Tomasz Gawronski (POL), who won silver in 2022.Since 2011, the world record has been held by Daniel Kiptum from Kenya with a fabulous time of 2:11.31, run in Zurich, Switzerland.  The Deaflympic record for the marathon has been held by Frenchman Taieb Tounsi since 1989 with a time of 2:24:18. We suspect that this time could be broken at these Deaflympics, given the course. Dieter will run 8 laps of approximately 5 kilometres each in Tokyo city centre. You can see the route in the attachment below. SUPPORTERS - BE THERE and SUPPORT DIETER!