The 23rd Summer Deaflympics brought together 96 different countries over 5,000 participants from July 18 to July 30, 2017. The programme includes 21 kinds of sport: 16 individual and 5 team sports. The Republic of Belarus is represented by 42 sportsmen: 16 athletes, 12 swimmers, 7 freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers, 4 Masters of sport on volleyball and 3 judo wrestlers.

Gomel State University representatives in the national team are the students of the Faculty of Physical culture.

Greco-Roman wrestlers are Soslan Sydakov (3d year student, Faculty of Physical culture; weight category up to 59 kg) and Victor Scherbakov (3d year, Faculty of Distance education; weight category up to 98 kg).

Faculty of Distance education graduates - Honored Masters of Sports Oksana Petrushenko and Maria Rudko, Master of Sports of International class of the Republic of Belarus Anastasia Filipchik - successfully performed in the swimming competitions.

Oksana Petrushenko won 17 gold medals and became a three-time Deaflympics champion in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, being a winner of world and the Deaflympics records in these distances. Oksana Petrushenko was awarded the title of the best world sportsman in 2009.

Oksana Petrushenko, Maria Rudko, Anastasia Filipchik and Ekaterina Yeremtsova won silver medals in the 4 x 100 m combined relay.

In the 4x100 freestyle relay Oksana Petrushenko, Anastasia Filipchik, Ekaterina Yeremtsova and Anna Kuzmich won silver medals.

National swimming team coach – honored trainer of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Kuzikov – is the graduate of Gomel State University (Faculty of Physical culture).

For reference: The Deaflympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are held every four years since 1924. To qualify for the games, athletes must have a hearing loss of at least 55 db in their "better ear". Hearing aids, cochlear implants and the like are not allowed to be used in competition, to place all athletes on the same level.