THE DEAFLYMPIC GAMES ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY AND
    DEAF OLYMPIAN OF THE CENTURY SELECTIONS

About one year ago I, as an appointed Chairman of the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century and Deaf Olympian of the Century Selections Commission ( "Selections Commission" ), finalized the list of the names of the 15-member international Selections Commission with the CISS President, John Lovett, and CISS Home Office.

I am writing this material now because to this day, I have been continuing to receive inquires from many different individuals and organizations all over the world, that is, these people and organizations are asking me as to who won the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century and Deaf Olympian of the Century Award honors last summer.

To my much puzzlement, the CISS has not to this day  published such an important and historically relevant announcement in print  anywhere, including  via its  now-popular CISS e-News website.

In addition, I received the information that the British Deaf News magazine from Great Britain  published a story in which it incorrectly named Rajeev Bagga of India as the winner of the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century  title!

Pardon me, I am not the right person to answer all CISS-related inquires. My residence premises are  not the CISS Home Office premises. I do not get paid by the CISS Treasury for distribution of any CISS-related information that I may have in my own possession.
However, in the future, I advise and encourage each of you, in case you want to know anything about the CISS-related item, to direct your inquires to the CISS Home Office in Silver Spring, Maryland,USA ( e-mail address: info@ciss.org ).

In spite of all the above-mentioned passages, I will now be generous  by attempting to provide to you  your much-sought information related to my last year's work as the Chairman of the Selections Commission.

To make the record straight and accurate with my Selections Commission  work project,
I am presenting the three aims of this material:

1. to provide the information  as to how this project began and ended, including the list of the names of individuals who served on the Selections Commission;

2. to provide the accurate list of the winners and placings of the finalists in the two different categories, and

3. to explain as to what actually happened  during  the July 21, 2001 President's Awards Night Banquet held in Rome, Italy, in which  the Award trophies were presented to the winners.

HOW IT BEGAN

Sometime at the end of May, 2000, I was in touch with Lovett ( by that time I had a very close and cordial working relationship with him ) and there I presented to him an idea of organizing the Deaf World Athlete of the Century Selections project. Predictably, Lovett was very receptive to my idea. Then we both ( Lovett as the CISS President and leading author of the CISS 1985 Book and I, a recognized authority on the history of the CISS and Deaflympic Games ) started to work on a large list of candidates who would later on make the final list of the top ten in the two different categories - the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century and Deaf Olympian of the Century. The job of selecting the top ten was a very uneasy, complex and burdensome one, but Lovett and I managed to finalize the list by including on it the most deserving and outstanding deaf elite athletes who made  huge impact in the world sports stage during the 20th century.

Then, on November 5, 2000, at the CISS Executive Committee meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, I outlined my Selections Commission project to  the CISS EC, who, later on, unanimously voted to approve it and who also wholeheartedly supported Lovett's proposal to appoint me as its Selections Commission Chairman.

I must be sincere and straigthforward that  prinicipally thanks to Lovett my two lifetime and big projects - the  annual    World SportsMan and SportsWoman of the Year Awards ( begun in 1996) and the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century and Deaf Olympian of the Century - became a reality!
No question, for the history book records, Lovett played influential and crucial role in encouraging and implementing of these two historic projects!

COMPOSITION OF THE 15-MEMBER SELECTIONS COMMISSION

The next step was to select and invite  the names of individuals who would be included on the 15-member Selections Commission. My goal was to have  the individuals on my Commission  who had varied opinions, long sports administration backgrounds as well as basic knowledge of the history of both Deaflympic Games and Olympic Games . The 13 names were proposed and were approved by Lovett, myself and Donalda Ammons, the CISS Secretary General, without any dissent.

Now, we, the three,  worked hard to add  the last two individuals on the 15-member international panel list.  The most difficult job was  the cases of the two proposed candidates - Werner Kliewer of Germany  and Jerald Jordan of USA.

In retrospect, in  my lifetime, I was blessed to meet many notable deaf leaders from all walks of life. For example, as a deaf person born and reared in the now-defunct "iron curtain" nation and superpower, the Soviet Union,  I had the privilege of meeting and conversing  with all four Presidents of the World Federation of the Deaf ( Vittorio Ieralla of Italy, Dragoljub Vukotic of Yugoslavia, the Swedish-born Yerker Andersson of the USA and Liisa Kauppinen of Finland ). But in my lifetime I met the three notable deaf persons, who  made a very strong impact on me as the most erudite deaf leaders. These three were Knud Sondergaard, the former long-time CISS Secretary General from Denmark, Lovett and Werner Kliewer.

The three were the ones who impressed me a great deal not only with their comprehensive and  broad  knowledge of international sports events but also with their deep grasp of the  past and current world political affairs.

I know Kliewer ( he, like Sondergaard, never was a personal friend of mine ) since 1974 and have been watching his tremendous work as the Secretary-General of the DSG ( the National Sports Association of Germany )  and the EDSO ( the European Deaf Sports Organization ). Since 1973, Kliewer has also been the most visible and articulate presence at every CISS Congress session. Imagine that Kliewer has attended a record of 16 consecutive CISS Congress sessions from 1973 to 2001!

Because of Kliewer's vast experience in the deaf sports world, I wanted very badly to have him included on my 15-member Selections Commission.

However, my wish was not met because of the stiff opposition of Ammons. In my face-to-face meeting with Ammons in Washington, D.C., USA, on November 29, 2000, I tried to use my persuasive and valid arguments to convince Ammons to  include Kliewer on my  Selections Commission. But Ammons was adamant because, as she explained to me, the current CISS Secretary General had her own personal and business scores to settle  with the current EDSO Secretary General.

Another person who also was invited to serve on the Selections Commission was Jerald Jordan, the former CISS President. Via my electronic mail communication, I encouraged Jordan to join my already star-studded Selections Commission. But Jordan made his own decision: he flatly  and repeatedly declined to serve on my Commission. He had not given the reason of such a move in writing. But Lovett and Ammons knew very well that Jordan was not very happy and comfortable in learning that the CISS EC voted to appoint me as the Selections Commission Chairman. Also, Jordan was very alarmingly upset when in February, 2001, he learned that  my name was placed on the frontrunner list of the CISS EC candidates for the 2001-2005 period.

But that was not the end of Jordan's involvement with my Selections  Commission project.

You will later on learn more in the bottom page of this material as to what kind of a role Jordan played with the project on July 21,2001.

Because the two - Kliewer and Jordan - were not included in the list, Lovett and Ammons
proposed - and I accepted - to name Anne Bremner of Australia and Dr. Simon Carmel of USA as the 14th and 15th members of the Selections Commission, instead.

Below is the final  composition of the 15-member Selections Commission:

John Lovett, Australia - member
Renzo Corti, Italy - member
Dr. Donlda Ammons, USA - member
Ole Artmann, Denmark - member
Vojtech Volejnik, Czech Republic - member
Rudolf Gast, Germany - member
Lennart Edwall, Sweden - member
Chou Tung, Taiwan - member
Dr. Lawrence Fleischer, USA - member
Knud Sondergaard, Denmark - member
Isabelle Malaurie, France - member
JoAnne Robinson, Canada - member
Anne Bremner, Australia - member
Dr. Simon Carmel, USA - member
Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas, USA/Uzbekistan - member and Chairman.

THE POINT SYSTEM USED, VOTING BALLOT

By April 15, 2001, the CISS Home Office  mailed to each Selections Commission member
the comprehensive package material which I prepared. The package also, among the other things, included a sheet which mentioned the point system to be utilized, i.e., the first place choice would receive 15 points, the second place choice - 10 points and the tenth place choice would receive one point. Also, every Selections Commission member was instructed to fax to the Selections Commission Chairman his/her voting ballot forms on or before June 15,2001.

As a result, of  the 15 Commission members, 14 responded - 11  persons met  the deadline submission time, while the three ( Ammons, Corti and Gast ) submitted their ballot forms late, that is, after the June 15, 2001  submission deadline.

In order to maintain my professionalism and diligence as the Selections Commission Chairman, I was in a constant contact with Lovett, my project supervisor. Every time I kept Lovett updated on the progress of the project. When the three members submitted their ballot forms late, for instance, I consulted Lovett as to what to do next. Lovett gave me his orders in  a mixed fashion: accept the voting ballot forms from Ammons and Corti as official ones, while rejecting  Gast's voting ballot form.

Thus, 13 out of the 15 Selections Commission members' voting ballots were accepted for counting as official ones!

THE WINNERS AND FINAL PLACINGS

After my careful scoring point system tally, the following results were produced:

The Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century

1. Giovanni CALISSANO, Italy, shooting - 123 points collected

2. Timo KARVONEN, Finland, nordic skiing and athletics - 119
3. Cindy Lu FITZPATRICK, Australia, swimming - 111
4. Masayuki IKUSHIMA, Japan, table tennis -   91
5. Rita WINDBRAKE, Germany, athletics -   90
6. Rajeev BAGGA, India, badminton -   69
7. Wendell GASKIN, USA, athletics -   59
8. Tone MYRVOLL, Norway, nordic skiing -   53
9. Valery RUKHLEDEV, Soviet Union, wrestling -   40
10. Zoran STOKIC, Yugoslavia, football -   37.


The Deaf Olympian of the Century :

1. Ildiko REJTO, Hungary, fencing - 169 points collected   

2. Susan Jane PEDERSEN, USA, swimming - 107
3. Ignazio FABRA, Italy, wrestling - 104
4. Jeffrey FLOAT, USA, swimming -   90
5. Terence PARKIN, Republic of South Africa, swimming -   89
6. Gerhard SPERLING, Germany, athletics -   61
7. Jyri JAANSON, Estonia, rowing -   60
8. Vyacheslav SKOMOROKHOV, Soviet Union, athletics -   48
9. Angel ACUNA, Mexico, basketball -   33
10. Dean BARTON-SMITH, Australia, atthletics -   22.

Thus, Giovanni Calissano and Ildiko Rejto were officially declared as the winners of the Century Awards in  their respective categories. In addition, in order to become familiar with the backgrounds of the 20 above-mentioned finalists, please read the CISS 2001 REVIEW Book ( pages 39 through 51 ). To purchase the Book, contact the CISS Home Office ( 814 Thayer Avenue Suite 350 Silver Spring Maryland 20910 USA ).

JULY 21, 2001  AWARDS NIGHT BANQUET  AND JORDAN'S ROLE

A special and festive event was arranged by both the CISS and the Italian organizations - the COL and the FISS  - in the  evening hours of July 21, 2001, in Rome, Italy.

The event was billed as "President's Awards Night Banquet" ( it was Lovett's choice of the event name, although I in advance  proposed him to symbolically call the event as the "CISS Awards Night Banquet" and to make it a bi-annual event ).

Many CISS Congress delegates, officials and guests were invited to attend the banquet.Organizationally, I must admit, it had  its pluses  and minuses. The pluses, for example, were these  the food was great and the atmosphere there was a very joyous one. The big minus was that the lighting  system, especially, in   the Award presentation area was a very poor one ( it was too dark to see anyone there ).

On my round table I had an entertaining company of the following individuals:

Giovanni Calissano, the winner of the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century Award;
Cecilia Ferm of Sweden, the winner of the 2000 World SportsWoman of the Year  Award;
Viktor Yuzhaninov of Russia, the winner of the 1999 World SportsMan of the Year Award;
Petra Kurkova of the Czech Republic, the winner of the 1999 World SportsWoman of the Year Award;
Vojtech Volejnik, the CISS EC member from the Czech Republic.
Dr. Bobbie Beth Scoggins of the USA, President of the USA Deaf Sports Federation, and her husband.

Suddenly, Lovett came in to my table and politely approached me by privately and tacitly asking me the following,

"Rafael, JJ ( Jerald Jordan ) wants to personally  present  the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century Award trophy to Giovanni Calissano. Is it OK with you?"

What was my reaction?

My instant thoughts and feelings on that moment were to try to deeply swallow inside myself the facts that Jordan  was the one who just  sophisticatedly mastermided my  personal and business relationship rupture with Lovett and Ammons and  that what the troika of Jordan, Ammons and Lovett did to me earlier in the day at the 37th CISS Congress election session and  that by not wanting to ruin the already jovial atmosphere at the banquet premises ) I was very strong enough to tactfully and diplomatically answer  Lovett's question,

" OKAY, let JJ get his wish and award the trophy to Calissano, the 42-medal winner in the Deaflympic Games shooting events!"

Now, you can see as to what kind of the double-standard position  Jordan took with my Selections Commission project!

Remember, on the one side, he had no will to serve on my presided-15-member Selections Commission earlier. On the other side, he had his own and sudden  desire to act as a presenter of the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century Award trophy!

How brazen demagogue, brashful opportunist and attention-starving benefit taker Jordan was on the night hours of July 21,2001!

It also should be noted that before, during and after the July 21,2001 Award presentation event, many people, including Lovett and Ammons ( and excluding Jordan), came to personally congratulate me for a well-done job in running the Selections Commission project.

However, quite strangely, painfully and ironically, both Lovett and Ammons, on the other side, did the unbelievable  and unthinkable things to me personally:

- the two were  already engaged in a very well-planned, clandestinely-coordinated and "behind-the-scenes" scheme to remove my name as a candidate for the CISS EC member elective position;

- the two were the ones to unceremoniously  and unexplainably dump my name as the Chairman of the CISS Awards Commission;

- the two mysteriously chose to keep me in the dark by not giving me the opportunity to be considered  as a candidate for the newly-created and appointed CISS EC position of the CISS Sports Director.

Were the above acts by Lovett and Ammons as the acts of their "personal gratitude and appreciation"  toward Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas, who, among the other things, dedicatedly and loyally toiled in order to convert  from dream into reality the historic, multi-faceted and once-a-lifetime  project called the Deaflympic Games Athlete of the Century and Deaf Olympian of the Century Selections?

How I was massively betrayed  and shrewdly taken advantage of by Lovett and Ammons - my now-former friends, admirers and colleagues in the CISS!

That was how and why  I was forced  to name  Ammons and Lovett ( along with their provocateur-in-chief Jordan )  as  the defendants in my still ongoing lawsuit case!

Sincerely Yours,

Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas

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