20e Deaflympics in Melbourne 2005

2,038 athletes from no fewer than 63 countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Armenia, Serbia, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Macau, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan, Korea, India, Fiji Islands, Singapore, Thailand, Mongolia, Venezuela, Brazil, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Canada, and the USA) participated in these Games, competing in sports such as athletics, badminton, basketball, bowling, handball, orienteering, swimming, water polo, football, beach volleyball, volleyball, cycling, shooting, table tennis, tennis, and wrestling.

Notable events included:

At the 36th ICSD Congress, Melbourne was chosen as the venue for this edition of the Deaflympics with 56 votes to 33 for Kosice (Slovakia);
Beach Volleyball was accepted as a sport at the Deaflympics for the first time;
The following countries participated in these Games for the first time: Armenia, Serbia, Ghana, the Fiji Islands, and Thailand;
For the first time, six women's teams also competed in the football competition.
Terence Parkin from South Africa won no fewer than 12 gold medals in various swimming disciplines.
No fewer than 26 new world records and 82 Deaflympic records were broken.

The medal count showed that the Russian Federation took first place with 55 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, and 14 bronze), while Ukraine took second place with 51 medals (20 gold, 17 silver, and 14 bronze), and Germany took third place with 36 medals (6 gold, 14 silver, and 16 bronze).

Belgium won one bronze medal with 12 athletes (23 men and 2 women).

Beach volleybal
Men (4th place) with Kristof De Weerdt (°1973) & Bart Dumelie (°1979)
Preliminary round:

Belgium vs USA = 0-2
Belgium vs Russia = 0-2
Belgium vs Uzbekistan = 2-0
Belgium vs Ukraïne = 2-1
Belgium vs Australia = 2-0
Belgium vs Brazil = 2-0

Final round:

5th & 6th place : Brazil vs Australia = 2-0
3th & 4th place : Belgium vs Ukraïne = 1-2
Final : USA vs Russia = 0-2

Ladies (6th place) with Marina Demunter (°1960) & Karolien Olislagers (°1979)
Preliminary round:

Belgium vs Uzbekistan = 2-0
Belgium vs USA = 1-2
Belgium vs Ukraïne = 0-2
Belgium vs Russia = 0-2
Belgium vs Australia = 2-0
Belgium vs Switserland = 1-2
Belgium vs Belarus = 0-2

Final round:

5th & 6th place : Zwitserland vs Belgium = 2-1
3th & 4th place : Wit-Rusland vs USA = 0-2
Final : Oekraïne vs Rusland = 2-0

Table Tennis

Mathieu Loicq (°1979):
- Singles: He failed to qualify for the final round. He played in Group K with Michael Louey (AUS), Jung-Tsung Yang (TPE), Peter Kolev (BUL), and Yannan Li (CHN).
  - He lost to Michael Louey (AUS) 0-3 (walkover).
  - He lost to Jung-Tsung Yang (TPE) 0-3 (11-13, 4-11, 7-11).
  - He defeated Peter Kolev (BUL) 3-2 (11-5, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9).
  - He lost to Yannan Li (CHN) 0-3 (11-7, 11-8, 11-3).
  - He lost to Yannan Li (CHN) 0-3 (11-7, 11-8, 11-3).
- Doubles (with Kurt van Dam): 5th place
  - Won in the first round against G. Jain / S. Sengupta (IND) 4-0 (15-6, 15-6, 15-4, 15-5),
  - Won in the second round against P. Pieta / M. Rutowski (POL) 4-3 (15-9, 10-15, 15-8, 8-15, 7-15, 15-7, 15-4),
  - Qualified for the quarterfinals but lost in this quarterfinal to T. Baehr / M. Mechau (GER) 0-4 (9-15, 6-15, 10-15, 7-15).
Kurt Van Dam (°1977):
- Singles: He qualified for the final round. He played in Group H with Kyung Hoon (KOR), Chiyu Li (CHN), and David Suutari (AUS).
  - He defeated Kyung Hoon (KOR) 3-2 (12-10, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8).
  - He lost to Chiyu Li (CHN) 3-0 (3-11, 11-13, 5-11), the future gold medalist in 2005.
  - He defeated David Suutari (AUS) 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-4).
  - He lost in the first round to Mykola Zakladnyy (UKR) 3-4 (12-10, 1-11, 16-18, 11-6, 11-3, 4-11, 4-11).
    Mykola's brother (Gennadiy Zakladnyy) ultimately won the silver medal.
- Doubles (with Mathieu Loicq): xx place
  - Won in the first round against G. Jain / S. Sengupta (IND) 4-0 (15-6, 15-6, 15-4, 15-5),
  - Won in the second round against P. Pieta / M. Rutowski (POL) 4-3 (15-9, 10-15, 15-8, 8-15, 7-15, 15-7, 15-4),
  - Won in the quarterfinals but lost in this quarterfinal to T. Baehr / M. Mechau (GER) 0-4 (9-15, 6-15, 10-15, 7-15).
Christophe Mallieu (°1974):
- Singles: He failed to qualify for the final round and was eliminated in 3rd place in Group A with Mark Mechau (GER), Nemai Banik (IND), and Peter Grman (SVK).
  - Lost against M. Mechau (GER) 1-3 (11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 7-11).
  - Won against Nemai Banik (IND): walkover.
  - Lost against Peter Grman (SVK) 1-3 (11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 7-11).
- Doubles (with Gauthier Raes):
  - Lost in the first round to Y. Li / C. Li (JAP) 4-0 (4-15, 3-15, 3-15, 7-15).
Gauthier Raes (°19xx):
- Singles: He failed to qualify for the final round and was eliminated in 4th place in Group C with Thomas Baehr (GER), Endre Szombat (HUN), Radosean Kluczynski (POL) & Gaurav Jain (IND).
  - Lost to Thomas Baehr (GER) 1-3 (11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 4-11).
  - Won against Endre Szombat (HUN) 3-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4).
  - Lost to Radosean Kluczynski (POL) 2-3 (8-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 4-11).
  - Lost to Gaurav Jain (IND) 1-3 (11-4, 9-11, 8-11, 7-11).
- Doubles (with Christophe Mallieu):
  - Lost in the first round to Y. Li / C. Li (JAP) 4-0 (4-15, 3-15, 3-15, 7-15).

In the team competition, Belgium was placed in Group 1 with China, Korea, and Hungary.

Belgium vs. China = 0-3
Belgium vs. Hungary = 3-0
Belgium vs. Korea = 3-2

Group 1 standings: 1. China - 2. Belgium - 3. Korea - 4. Hungary

Belgium thus qualified for places 1 through 8 : Belgium vs. Germany = 0-3
For places 5th through 8th: Belgium vs. Poland = 3-0
For places 5th through 6th: Belgium vs. Russia = 2-3
Belgium thus finished in 6th place in the team competition.

Swimming

Koen Adriaenssens (°1976):
- 50m breaststroke: (8th place in the final) with a time of 31.59, behind Terence Parkin (RSA) with 29.36.
- 100m breaststroke (1st in the B-final) with 1:09.21.
- 200m breaststroke (bronze) with 2:30.64, behind winner Terence Parkin (RSA) with 2:27.37.
- 50m butterfly (8th place in the B-final) with 28.49.
- 100m butterfly (3rd place in the B-final) with 1:01.63.
- 200m butterfly (eliminated with 9th place in the qualifying rounds and withdrawn from the B-final) with 2:19.31.
- 200m individual medley (6th place) with a time of 2:17.71, behind winner Terence Parkin (RSA) with a time of 2:11.46.
Jorn Rijckaert (°1985):
- 50m breaststroke (1st place in the B-final) with a time of 32.71.
- 100m breaststroke (7th place in the final) with a time of 1:10.02, behind Terence Parkin (RSA) with a time of 1:04.87.
- 200m breaststroke (8th place in the final) with a time of 2:33.69, behind Terence Parkin (RSA) with a time of 2:27.37.
- 200m individual medley (eliminated in qualifying with a time of 21st place) with a time of 2:28.65.
Jessica Jarych (°1984)
- 50m freestyle (7th place in the final) with 28.84, behind Ganna Lytvynenko (UKR) with 27.39.
- 100m freestyle (7th place in the final) with 1:03.30, behind Ganna Lytvynenko (UKR) with 59.29.
- 400m freestyle (7th place in the final) with 4:55.12, behind Kana Imamura (JAP) with 4:39.86.
- 50m butterfly (7th place in the final) with 31.47, behind Alexandra Polivanchuk (SWE) with 30.05.
- 100m butterfly (4th place in the B-final) with a time of 1:12.97.
Nathalie Bekaert (°1986):
- 50m freestyle (eliminated in qualifying in 21st place) with 30.40.
- 100m freestyle (6th place in the B-final) with 1:06.72.
- 50m backstroke (eliminated in qualifying in 25th place) with 37.30.
- 100m backstroke (eliminated in qualifying in 20th place) with 1:19.56.
- 50m butterfly (eliminated in qualifying in 28th place) with 34.09.

Chef de Mission = Paul De Weerdt.