1y ago

Who competes for "Team GB" at the Olympics?

Specifically, given the name is "Great Britain", I'm curious: does Northern Ireland compete under the Union Jack? Or are they with the Irish team like they do in rugby union and cricket?

7 comments

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_GB
Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. It is meant to unify the team as one body, irrespective of each member athlete's particular sport. Officially, the team is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team", although athletes from Northern Ireland may opt to compete under the auspices of the Olympic Federation of Ireland instead.
So to answer your question, yes.
- Oh neat, thanks.
  Don't suppose you know how many NI athletes are in the Olympics this year, and which country they're representing?
  
  Not a clue, my friend. I couldn't give a fuck. 😂
  I'm sure the information is available somewhere.
- No, Northern Ireland is part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". So it's in the UK but not GB, which I think is what spurred OP's question
  
  You are Absolutely correct. I am british and didn’t even get it right 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
  
  Exactly right. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the "Great Britain" team in the Olympics is actually the UK team, but was curious about Northern Ireland's status since they don't seem to technically fit in the team name.

7 comments