For the first time ever, a Deaflympics will see a flame relay travel from the first city to host the Dealfympics to the site of the 2013 Summer Deaflympics.
The Deaflympics flame was lit on 26 June in Paris, the site of the first Deaflympics in 1924 and will travel through Europe until it reaches Sofia, Bulgaria, on 26 July, in time for the Opening Ceremonies of the 22nd Summer Deaflympics.
The Flame Relay will go through Europe, stopping at many different cities, including the U.N. headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. At the U.N. headquarters, ICSD president Craig A. Crowley and World Federtion of the Deaf board member Dr. Terry Riley will welcome the flame to the United Nations.
The Flame Relay is being brought across Europe on bicycle, which is a first for any kind of Olympic flame. The choice of a bicycle was done for several reasons, including the fact that the founder of the Deaflympics, Eugene Rubens-Alcais, was a competitive cyclist and Deaf people often rely on cycling as a mode of transportation, especially in cities that are now adding more and more bicycle-dedicated lanes.