Deaf Willisau twins target medals at European youth games

Deaf twins Simeon and Severin Hug are aiming for the podium in the 800-metre race at the European Youth Games for deaf athletes in Hanover, SRF reports. The 16-year-olds have been training with local gymnastics club STV Willisau since spring.

“I want to run a very good time there and win a medal,” Simeon said. The brothers will compete in the same race and train alongside the club’s other young athletes.

Severin said the sessions had increased his motivation. Training and speaking with other young people was “really great”, he said.

The twins have been deaf since birth. An implant allows them to hear what is happening around them, and they learned to speak as a result. They speak standard German rather than Swiss German, which the article describes as the spoken language used by deaf people.

The brothers said it was important for hearing people to understand what living with deafness was like. Their joint training with other young athletes was valuable for that reason, they said.

Their coach, Remo Wyss, said the twins were treated like everyone else during training, although some exercises sometimes had to be repeated. They are also receiving separate training for the competition in Hanover.

Balance is a particular focus. Deaf people can find it harder to maintain their balance, and the twins work on this with their coach. Simeon said they had had very poor balance as young children but now experienced only a few problems.

The brothers receive strong support from STV Willisau and their family. Their mother, Germaine Hug, said dealing with their hearing impairment had initially been difficult, but that it had brought the family closer together and made them more open to other people.

The twins recently completed school after 12 years at a special school for people with hearing impairments in the canton of Aargau. They have now started apprenticeships: Severin is training as a carpenter and Simeon as a landscape gardener. They are taking a break from their apprenticeships this week to focus fully on the competition.

Switzerland has an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 deaf people, according to the Swiss Deaf Association. A further 1.3 million people have a hearing impairment, ranging from mild hearing loss to complete deafness.

The 800-metre race in Hanover takes place on Saturday. The Hug family plans to attend and cheer on the twins.