TEAM MALTA TO COMPETE AT THE TOKYO 2025 DEAFLYMPICS
- Malta Paralympic Committee
- Nov 11
- 2 min read
Malta will be represented at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, with John Camilleri competing in cycling, accompanied by Chef de Mission, George Vella.
The 25th edition of the summer Deaflympics will be held in Tokyo, Japan, between 15th and 26th November 2025. John Camilleri, age 28, will compete in two cycling events, starting with the Time Trial (TT) event on Thursday 20th November and the Mass Start event on Saturday 22nd November (both events at 09:00 am Japan; 01:00 am Malta).
Cyclist John Camilleri, a biomedical engineer by profession at Saint James Hospital, has been competing in cycling for 8 seasons. At age 3, John underwent a cochlear implant surgery, to enable him to communicate. Since taking up competitive cycling, John has finished on the podium at various local and international competitions, with his greatest achievement being winning bronze in the men’s team road race event with Team Malta at GSSE Andorra 2025 earlier this year.
The Deaflympics is an International Olympics for persons with hearing impairments and deaf people. Athletes must have a hearing loss of at least 55 dB in their better ear to qualify. Hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other similar devices are not allowed during competition, to ensure fair competition. Around 3,000 athletes from around 80 countries will be competing in seven sports at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics.
The first Deaflympics were held in Paris, France in 1924. The Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics will be the 100th anniversary commemorative Games and this is the first time that the Deaflympics are being hosted in Japan. A unique feature of the Games is that the competitions feature assistive visual communications to signal to competing athletes’ key elements, such starting lights and flags, as well as the use of the International Sign Language as an official language, replacing auditory cues.
Malta first participated in the Deaflympics Games in Rome, Italy in 2001. Since then, Malta participated in an additional 3 editions of the Games, from Taipei (Taiwan) 2009, Sofia (Bulgaria) 2013, and Samsun (Turkey) 2017. Malta has also competed in the International and European Championships for the Deaf, winning its first medal at the 1st Deaf European Marathon Championships held in Lublin, Poland. George Vella, today Chef de Mission for Team Malta at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, won a silver medal back in May 2015. Chef de Mission George Vella also served as the first Vice-President of the Malta Paralympic Committee between 2018-2021 and has been an advocate for Deaf sport for over three decades.
Team Malta’s participation at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics is supported by Malta Paralympic Committee and SportMalta via the SportMalta International Participation Scheme 2025. Cyclist John Camilleri also extends his gratitude to his personal sponsors: VisitMalta, PwC, EJ Busutill – cochlear implant, GasanMamo Insurance, Saint James Hospital, Diligenza and Brown's Pharmacy. MPC also extends its gratitude towards Aġenzija Sapport, our official partner for our awareness campaign on Malta's participation at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics.
This press release is also available in Maltese:
Malta Paralympic Committee
Tuesday, 11 November 2025
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