When Sevan Ikeda finishes a big race, he doesn’t hear the cheers of his fans.
But he sees them, and more importantly, he feels their presence. And when he runs, he has an entire community behind him.
An alumnus of California School for the Deaf in Fremont, Ikeda is an elite runner who has broken multiple national prep records for deaf athletes.
Sevan Ikeda a member of the USA Deaf Track and Field team holds a collection of high school running medals on Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Fremont, Calif. Ikeda will compete in Nov. at the 25th Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Now, Ikeda has set his sights on the international stage. He has qualified for the Deaflympics in November, a competition for elite deaf athletes that is held every four years, mirroring the interval of the traditional Summer Olympics.
To get there, he’ll need a little help. The Deaflympics will be held in Tokyo, and Ikeda must raise $7,500 to cover travel, lodging, meals and insurance.
Ikeda, 18, competed at last year’s World Deaf Athletics Championships in Taipei, winning a silver medal in the 1,500. But a trip to the Tokyo Deaflympics would be even more rewarding.
“This is a huge opportunity for me,” Ikeda told the Bay Area News Group in an email exchange. “What makes this Deaflympics even more special is that it’s being held in Japan, a country that’s part of my heritage. One side of my family is from Japan. Competing there carries deep personal meaning for me. I’m honored to qualify and compete alongside top Deaflympics athletes, many of whom have made their mark in the national deaf prep records.”
Sevan Ikeda a member of the USA Deaf Track and Field team on Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Fremont, Calif. Ikeda will compete in Nov. at the 25th Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Ikeda just graduated from CSD and is committed to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., where he will run cross country and track alongside other elite deaf athletes.
The university is named after Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an influential 19th-century educator who founded the American School for the Deaf in Connecticut.
CSD has a Gallaudet Drive on campus. The throughline between the two schools highlights how connected the deaf community is in the U.S.
And today, Ikeda has a convoy at his back as he chases his dreams.
California School for the Deaf runner Sevan Ikeda runs alongside a competitor from Texas during the Berg/Seeger Track & Field Classic in Austin, Texas in April 2025. (Courtesy of California School for the Deaf)
“I feel privileged to have the opportunity to compete alongside other deaf athletes at the collegiate level,” Ikeda said.
Ikeda has to navigate challenges other athletes don’t during a race. Since he can’t hear the starting gun, he watches the starter intently.
“I tend to feel the vibration of the gun, but I prefer looking at the signaler, as they sometimes wave their hand or smoke comes out of the gun,” Ikeda said. “These sights are aspects that mean the race has started.”
Once his race kicks off, Ikeda has to keep his senses attuned to track where the other runners are, especially if they’re behind him.
California School for the Deaf runner Sevan Ikeda competes in a race. (Courtesy of California School for the Deaf)
“I’m fully focused on myself and strategizing, so I’m not sensing the fans,” he said. “However, I keep my eyes open to see the surroundings of runners racing against me. While I don’t know if there’s a runner behind, I tend to watch my coach, who lets me know if there’s a runner close to me.”
That’s not always a common occurrence for the speedy Ikeda. And when the race ends, Ikeda can’t communicate with his competitors in the same way hearing athletes can.
But he’s found other ways to connect.
“I’ve made friends as we communicated through texting or using a note app,” Ikeda said. “We’ve met up and run together for fun.”
Sevan Ikeda a member of the USA Deaf Track and Field team on Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Fremont, Calif. Ikeda will compete in Nov. at the 25th Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
College Prep runner Emiya Rendall-Jackson has been Ikeda’s “friendly rival” for three seasons. The two competed for gold medals often and pushed each other to personal bests, Ikeda said.
“Because Sevan was this runner that was constantly pushing me to become a better runner myself, I wanted to be able to find a way to connect with him more deeply,” Rendall-Jackson told the Bay Area News Group. “So that led me to want to start learning American Sign Language to hopefully be able to communicate with him.”
Rendall-Jackson has progressed to the point where he and Ikeda primarily communicate through ASL. Rendall-Jackson also speaks Japanese and Spanish and said learning ASL has opened up another part of the world for him.
“It’s been like building a bridge to this new world, almost,” Rendall-Jackson said. ”When I was in Japan and I was on this Mount Fuji bus tour, I noticed that one of the people in my group was also deaf, and they were using American Sign Language. I was actually able to communicate with them through the ASL that I learned for Sevan.”
Ikeda has already made history in his high school career. During track season in the spring, he broke the national deaf prep records in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters.
He reset the 3,200 record with a time of 9:31.64 at the East Bay Invitational on April 5, and he raised the bar in the 1,600 on May 10 at the Bay Area Conference championships, clocking a time of 4:24.54.
Ikeda lowered his own 3,200 record at the NCS Meet of Champions in late May, crossing the finish line in 9:25.16 to place eighth overall in the field.
California School for the Deaf runner Sevan Ikeda competes in a race. (Courtesy of California School for the Deaf)
“Breaking the national deaf prep record was incredibly inspiring, especially since I’ve dreamed of achieving this since my freshman year,” Ikeda said. “It was a thrill to finish the 1600 with both a national deaf prep record and a personal best.”
Ikeda has attained this position in the international sporting sphere thanks to years of commitment and sacrifice. He has been running since middle school, but has really progressed in his four years at CSD.
“Sevan is a prime example of the old adage: hard work pays off,” CSD track coach Eric Kunze said. “Ever since Sevan’s freshman year, he has been running his tail off year-round, putting in hard work and following all the coaches’ advice and instructions for both cross country and track. It was quite rewarding.”
Ikeda is not only a standout runner, he’s an example to others at CSD of what they can accomplish.
Kunze said Ikeda has made distance running relevant at CSD, and his track events became “must-see events because of his elite skills in that field.”
At the Berg Seeger Classic in April, an annual national meet of deaf track and field athletes held in Austin, Texas, Ikeda inspired numerous spectators to come out and watch his signature events.
“All of them were left in awe and inspired by how he conducted himself and showed his talents,” Kunze said.
Ikeda hopes the next step in his long-running journey will lead him to Tokyo this fall. As of Thursday, he’s raised $2,629 toward his $7,500 goal.
With the help of others, Ikeda is determined to make it to Japan and represent his dual heritage. But wherever he goes, he’ll have a village running alongside him for every mile of the route.
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“These kinds of accomplishments don’t happen every day, and I truly value them as a deaf athlete competing against other great athletes,” Ikeda said. “This achievement means a lot because it shows others like me that it’s possible. Sometimes, you don’t even realize you’ve reached greatness while chasing your goals — but you have. I hope others see that and feel inspired to chase their dreams, too.”
They are.
“We have all been a part of his journey toward becoming an elite athlete and enjoyed watching Sevan accomplish feats that make us shake our heads,” Kunze said. “The CSD track community rallied behind him and cheered him on during races and felt inspired whenever he broke a school record or a national deaf prep record.
“If he continues to work hard and apply himself to running and learning new techniques, skills and tactics for long-distance races, he has the potential to be considered one of the best deaf athletes to ever compete.”
You can donate to Ikeda’s fundraising effort by visiting www.mightycause.com/story/Sevan.
