Watching the olympics I was stuck by how many times the commentators said Team GB and Northern Ireland. Why don’t we have Team U.K. (which includes N.I.) instead?
A quick Google returns this from the run up to the Rio olympics “The British Olympic Association (BOC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the UK Overseas Territories (including the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar).
“As such, neither ‘UK’ or ‘GB’ accurately describes the BOA’s remit nor would they be representative of all the territories that fall under the BOA’s jurisdiction.
“While the BOA has always sought to give recognition to the valuable contribution made by all territories within its jurisdiction and who contribute to our Olympic success, the International Olympic Committee has always recognised the team as ‘GBR’ since its inception in 1896.”
Surely at least Team U.K. would cover more larger relevant geography than Team G.B. As a Scot I’d be feeling bloody miffed it’ll it was “Team England … oh and Scotland too”.