Cheer Signs

For the first time in history, a sign language for cheering was born. Applause, cheers, and chants — sports cheering has always been built on sound, leaving deaf athletes unable to feel support and hearing spectators unsure how to participate. In 2025, as Tokyo hosted the Deaflympics’ 100th anniversary, one question emerged: Could the Games become a bridge beyond that divide? The answer was Cheer Signs — a physical language of cheering based on the universal sign for applause. For Tokyo, committed to inclusion, Cheer Signs became a symbol of coexistence between deaf and hearing communities.