It's amusing really. We as a nation/group of nations/whatever can't decide, so what chance has the rest of the world? No wonder the Americans call us all English.
I'd go for the sufficiently ambiguous 'Britain' myself.
GB is the correct term, as NI athletes can compete for the ROI. So excluding NI is justified from the team title.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely accurate. Also are you also saying Team Ireland is the incorrect term as people from the North can compete for the GB team and the name Team Ireland covers the whole of the island in a way Team GB doesn't for the whole of the UK?
It's all a bit of a grey area, and I don't think you're ever going to find a title everyone agrees with.
It does make you wonder why they didn't go for Team UK which would sound a touch more inclusive (only missing out CI/Isle of Man as opposed to Northern Ireland).
Presumably because the country is referred to as Great Britain by the IOC.
Calling ourselves Team UK would include everyone, as that is the name of the country. Great Britain excludes Northern Ireland alone.
Team GB sounds better than Team UK or Team GBNI so that's what they went for. Simple really.
"I went to the games in 1996 and the logo at the time was just the lion and the rings, but we weren't strong enough as a brand to just be a lion and the rings. So coming back I wanted to find something that was less of a mouthful, and also had that team feel. We looked at the options and came up with Team GB."
(Marzena Bogdanowicz, British Olympic Association's director of marketing)
CF
CatsFast101
The 'Team GB' is used because its catchy more than anything. But I thought Northern Irish athletes compete for a Team GB, and aren't the republic or Ireland a completely separate country to and has no relationship with NI, Scorland, England & Wales? Or do I need to brush up on my geography skills?
The 'Team GB' is used because its catchy more than anything. But I thought Northern Irish athletes compete for a Team GB, and aren't the republic or Ireland a completely separate country to and has no relationship with NI, Scorland, England & Wales? Or do I need to brush up on my geography skills?
Well yes and no. The Republic of Ireland is its own independent country, but it's situated on a landmass which, together with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is known as the British Isles.
The 'Team GB' is used because its catchy more than anything. But I thought Northern Irish athletes compete for a Team GB, and aren't the republic or Ireland a completely separate country to and has no relationship with NI, Scorland, England & Wales? Or do I need to brush up on my geography skills?
The British Olympic Association represents all of the UK, the Crown Deps and Overseas Territories. I think, although this is a contentious issue, that many Northern Irish people have dual citizenship, so could represent either nation. At these games, Northern Irish rowers won a silver and a bronze for Team GB in the men's fours and single sculls.
And a small addition to my last post, about Team GB: In 2004, the OCI objected when the British Olympic Association changed its style from "Great Britain" to "Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in the runup to the Athens games. So until then, we had been Great Britain anyway.
Once you watch one CGP Grey video you have to watch them all.