The Deaflympics are held every four years, and are the longest running multi-sport event excluding the Olympics themselves.[3] The first games, held in Paris in 1924, were also the first ever international sporting event for athletes with a disability.[4] The event has been held every four years since, apart from a break for World War II, and an additional event, the Deaflympic Winter Games, was added in 1949.[5] The games began as a small gathering of 148 athletes from nine European nations competing in the International Silent Games in Paris, France, in 1924; now, they have grown into a global movement.[4]