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The Deaflympics is a 'culturally important event' in the calendar but athletes have to fund themselves, says the CEO of UK Deaf Sport.

Chris Ratcliffe was born profoundly deaf and has represented Great Britain at the Deaflympics as a swimmer, as well as winning the Deaf Rugby World Cup in 2002 with Wales.

The Deaflympics, inspired by the Olympics, was set up partly to celebrate deaf culture, but also to be able to compete on a level playing field.

Chris told 大象传媒 Leicester's Ady Dayman how deaf athletes face a 拢4,000 self-funded barrier to compete in Tokyo 2025, and can only compete in the Paralympics if they have another eligible disability.