Standing at the airport in their red and white Malta sports gear, three athletes gesticulate excitedly at one another as they prepare to board a plane to China on their way to Taiwan where they will compete in the deaf olympics.

George Vella, Charmaine Farrugia and Clive Gauci cannot wait for the moment when they will walk inside Taipei's stadium, in Taiwan, for the opening ceremony of the Deaflympics 2009 on Saturday.

Apart from forming part of the same team, the three athletes also joined forces to voice a common message, that deaf people should not be discouraged because with support and commitment they too can achieve their goals.

"There needs to be more awareness about the communication hurdles deaf people face. Since there are not many deaf people in Malta, deaf athletes train with others who can hear and this can be problematic.

For example, a deaf footballer cannot hear the referee's whistle," explained Mr Vella, president of the Deaf People Association.

"However, the main problem remains one of education," he said. "There are not enough sign language interpreters, which make it difficult for a deaf student to follow in class. There has to be more awareness, especially by the authorities, to encourage more people to learn sign language," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

After taking part in the 2001 Deaflympics in Italy, this will be the second time Mr Vella will participate in the games that take place every four years. This year's event brings together over 4,000 athletes from 85 countries.

Mr Vella will be running the 10-kilometre race and the full marathon, which he started training for immediately after returning from the Ironman challenge in July when he completed the triathlon.

"This time I'm glad to be joined by another two athletes. The team is growing," he said, as he smiled at Ms Farrugia and Mr Gauci who will be competing in bowling.

Ms Farrugia, 31, explained she always loved bowling as a child and, as she grew up, she was encouraged to train professionally. Over a year ago she was joined by Mr Gauci, 21, and they have been training together since.

Mr Vella, Mr Gauci and Ms Farrugia knew each other before they joined the olympics team as they were all involved in the Deaf People Association. They are now bonded by team spirit and their common message of independence and support towards the deaf community.

The association recently set up a sub-committee called Deaf Sports that aims to bring deaf people together through sport. So far, the committee put together the Deaf Kavallieri football team and was working on setting up a sports activity for women.

Daily results in the Deaflympics can be obtained from www.deaflympics.com.