4 months before the Silent Games went ahead in Bucharest, the city experienced an earthquake that killed 1,500 people, including 8 deaf people. For a while it was feared that these Games could not go ahead.... but thanks to the perseverance of the Romanians and the CISS, it could still go ahead!
Belgium won quite a few medals with 20 athletes: 1 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal.
1,150 athletes from 32 countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, East Germany, West Germany, Soviet Union, Turkey, Israel, Japan, Iran, India, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Canada and the USA) took part in these Games with sports such as athletics, basketball, swimming, water polo, football, cycling, shooting, table tennis, tennis and wrestling.
Notable facts were:
- at the CISS congress it was decided to have increased audiogram monitoring!
- the opening ceremony was attended by 35,000 spectators!
- there were 2 top young swimmers at this Pacific Games who excelled:
- Jeffrey Float (USA): 10 gold medals.
- Laura Barber (USA): 10 gold medals.
- Laura Barber (USA): 10 gold medals.
- Bulgaria's volleyball team was deprived of their silver medal because 3 Bulgarian volleyball players refused to have an audiogram test.
- In the medal standings, we saw : the USA finished in 1st place with 103 medals (38 gold, 35 silver and 30 bronze), while the Soviet Union won 62 medals (2nd place with 26 gold, 15 silver and 21 bronze) and West Germany took 3rd place with 19 medals (4 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze).
- Athletics
- Willy Van Mulders (°1953) : 400 m, 800 m (silver) en 1.500 m (gold).
- Prosper Goethals (°1946) : Discuswerpen en Kogelstoten (6th place).
- Theophiel Christiaens (°1954) : 5.000 m, 10.000 m (7 th place) en 25 km.
- Jean-Marie Rebry (°1944) : 5.000 m (5 th place), 10.000 m (6 th place) en 25 km.
- Tennis
- Jean-Claude Biernaux (°1953) : singles (4th place) & doubles (bronze, with Lucien Gerin) & doubles mixed (silver, with Josette Robinson).
- Lucien Gerin (°1945) : singles & doubles (brons, with Jean-Claude Biernaux)
- Lily Hollevoet (°1934) : singles & doubles (5th place, with Nicole Robinson)
- Nicole Robinson (°1941) : singles & doubles (5 th place, with Lily Hollevoet) and doubles mixed.
- Josette Robinson (°1941) : singles & doubles mixed (zilver, with Jean-Claude Biernaux).
- Jean Perier (°1955) : singles.
- Swimming
- Eline Baeckelandt (°1960) : 100 m backstroke, 100 m freestyle and 200 m freestyle .
- Sabine Rubrecht (°1957) : 100 m breaststroke, 100 m freestyle and 200 m breaststroke.
- Marc Boen (°1957) : 100 m backstroke , 100 m breaststroke en 200 m backstroke .
- Jan Van Den Braembussche (°1959) : 100 m freestyle, 1.500 m freestyle and 400 m individual medley.
- Cycling
- Bernard Deschamps (°1944) : individual time trial (silver), individual road race & 1.000 m Sprint.
- Rudy Colpaert (°1956) : individual time trial (4e plaats), individual road race (6th place) & 1.000 m Sprint.
- Marcel Dubois (°1951) : individual time trial, individual road race & 1.000 m Sprint.
- Table Tennis
- Rywka Herszteyn (°1928) : singles & doubles (5e plaats, with Myriam Trouet).
- Myriam Trouet (°1946) : singles & doubles (5e plaats, with Rywka Herszteyn).
