Hard-of-Hearing Olympians

The Olympics may be over, but, like gold, cheering on your favorite athletes never goes out of style. In the spirit of the Olympics, we thought we’d take a look at some of the most famous and successful athletes in the hard-of-hearing and Deaf community.

Here are some of the most successful Deaf or hard-of-hearing athletes ever to represent the United States on the Olympic stage:

David Smith (Men’s Volleyball)

One U.S. Olympian you may have noticed sporting hearing aids in Paris this year is men’s volleyball player David Smith. Born nearly completely deaf, Smith has worn hearing aids and read lips his entire life, on and off the court.

After making his first Olympic appearance in the 2012 games, Smith has been a regular fixture on the team at middle blocker and was a part of the bronze medal team in 2016. He’s also been a part of the U.S. national team since 2010 and has won two FIVB World Cup gold medals. This year, the team took home another bronze medal.

Tamika Catching (Women’s Basketball)

One of the most successful women’s basketball players in history, Tamika Catching is also hard-of-hearing. While her family recognized and treated her hearing loss with hearing aids when she was very young, Catchings went years without them due to bullying. She ultimately decided to wear them on the court during her college career, though she credits her hearing loss and years of playing without hearing aids with making her more observant and focused.

Catching went on to win an NCAA title, WNBA Rookie of the Year, WNBA MVP, four Olympic gold medals, two World Championship gold medals, WNBA championship, and Finals MVP. With credits like that, it’s no surprise she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Chris Colwill (Diving)

While Chris Colwill was born with 40% hearing, he refused to think of it as a disability. He wears hearing aids outside of the pool, but during diving competitions, that wasn’t an option. Up on the platform, Colwill often couldn’t hear much from the crowd and would rely on visual cues from the judges to know when he was clear to dive.

Colwill was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he participated in the three-meter springboard and the synchronized three meter. In 2012, he joined the U.S. team in London, again participating in the three-meter springboard.

Marie Roethlisberger (Gymnastics)

Despite losing 100% of her hearing in one ear and about 85% in the other due to a childhood case of meningitis, Marie Roethlisberger competed at a high level in collegiate and international gymnastics. To account for her hearing loss, Roethlisberger choreographed her gymnastics routines to songs with heavy bass, allowing her sync with the music by feeling vibrations in the floor.

In 1984, she was an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team. After competing with the U.S. national team in the 1985 World Gymnastics Championships, Roethlisberger enrolled in the University of Minnesota, where she won the 1990 NCAA gymnastics championship for the uneven bars, along with seven Big Ten conference championships, and was a four-time All-American.

Jeff Float (Swimming)

A childhood case of viral meningitis caused Jeff Float to lose 10% of his hearing in one ear and 35% in the other as a child. Shortly thereafter, he took up swimming. By the age of 17, Float took home 10 gold medals in the 1977 Deaflympics.

After competing at the collegiate level, he joined the U.S. Olympic swim team in 1980. Though the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics that year, four years later Float won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay.

Jim Ryun (Track and Field)

As the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes, Jim Ryun soon represented the U.S. in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. There he won the silver medal in the 1,500-meter race.

With about 50% hearing loss following a childhood case of measles, Ryun learned to use visual aids while running to stay aware of his surroundings, even famously turning his head to look at competitors behind him in the middle of races.

In 1996, Ryun was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he introduced the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act and the Hearing Health Accessibility Act of 2005.

Gertude Ederle (Swimming)

After contracting a case of measles as a child, Gertude Ederle battled hearing loss for most of her life. That didn’t stop her from becoming one of the most accomplished female swimmers of her era, winning a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay in the 1924 Summer Olympics.

She was also the first woman to swim across the English Channel, completing the crossing in 1926, outpacing the five men who had completed the swim for a new world record, which stood for 25 years. She spent much of her retirement teaching deaf children how to swim.

Eric Gregory (400-meter dash)

If you watched this year’s U.S. Olympic qualifying events, you may have spotted a sprinter in the 400-meter dash from Gallaudet University named Eric Gregory. Gallaudet is a Division 3 school focusing on education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, and Gregory was the first student athlete to represent the school at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

While Gregory didn’t qualify for the Olympic team this year, he is determined to not let this be his last appearance in the Team Trials.