Why TeamGB? What about NI?

[TheMoreItGoes]

I know Northern Irish athletes can choose to represent either Ireland or the UK but can anyone tell me why the athletes that do choose to represent the UK are not included in the name of the UK team?

The team is announced as ‘Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ if you listen to any of the coverage.

But that’s not how they style themselves generally, what their kit says etc.

Other than the non-catchiness of it, I can’t see them referring to themselves as Team England,Wales and NI, Team Scotland, Wales and NI or Team NI, Wales and Scotland, so why is TeamGB okay, regardless of what they are officially referred to by announcers?

Do you also disagree with Team Ireland?

Because it's catchy and approx. 90% of people in the UK are completely oblivious as to why some might be unhappy about it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37058920

I think we have to accept that due to the country's history, there is no name that would please everyone.

I think the commentators have been pretty committed to calling it the team of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the coverage of the Olympics.

I agree with this and also with @IKnowAristotle

It should be Team UK, it's a shame it isn't. I've appreciated the BBC's efforts this time around to include NI when discussing Team GB, even when NI athletes aren't involved. I don't remember them including NI as much in previous years.

It's been a great Olympics for athletes from NI, on both the UK team and the Ireland team.

No, because their country is Ireland, the UK is not GB.

But the commentators are presumably working for the BBC. It’s presumably the BOC who have a say over whether it is Team GB or Team UK. I acknowledge Team GB sounds better but given what the British did in Ireland surely we could at least acknowledge that our team includes Northern Irish athletes.

But plenty of Northern Irish athletes are competing under Team Ireland, despite their own personal beliefs.

But Ireland is the name of the country they're representing, for whatever reason of their choosing.

GB isn't the name of a country.

Do any other Olympic teams market themselves under a name that isn't actually the name of a country?

’Team GB’ is the shorthand for ‘Team Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ which would imply that ‘Team UK’ would be more appropriate, but eligibility is not restricted to the UK constituent countries.

Team eligibility includes the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, plus the Channel Isles and Isle of Man and also “UK overseas territories without their own Olympic Committees”

Those from Northern Ireland can compete for either GB or Ireland.

Both should be adding 'and Northern Ireland' on the end, or neither.

No... The name of one country is Ireland, the name of the other country is the UK, people from NI can represent either. The UK team should be Team UK not Team GB.

Agree that Team GB should be called Team UK. No idea why it isn't. Nothing wrong with Team Ireland, though, surely? Northern Ireland is geographically part of Ireland (the Northern part to be precise), regardless of the political jurisdictions. Are you suggesting that Team Ireland should be called Team Ireland and Northern Ireland? That would be odd.

I believe if they choose to represent GB they won't care if Ireland is mentioned. If they were bothered they would be representing Ireland.

Usually in reality athletes choose based on the country willing to offer them the most funding and the chance of competing at a higher level. That's why more represent Ireland than the UK, the smaller population means they have a better chance of getting selected for the national team.

For any who do choose based on their identity, those representing the UK are more likely to dislike the Team GB branding as they would feel strongly British and Team GB is another example of the UK not fully including NI despite the history. Those who identify as Irish but are on the UK team are less likely to care as they wouldn't identify as being from either GB or the UK.

Oooh I saw a tiktok on this and team UK is incorrect as well, as the team also has members from the British overseas territories, like Gibraltar within it so technically Team GB and NI, and Team UK are both wrong. As yes, with the points above if you are NI you can chose to represent Ireland so a very high % of NI athletes actually do this. Can’t remember how much but something like out of 41, 37 of them were representing Ireland for this Olympics.

If Team UK is wrong because of Sark, Gibraltar etc, it’s still less wrong than Team GB, where a whole nation is removed.

That said, the BBC have obviously done some training this year, as “and Northern Ireland” has been said a lot. Sadly nobody trained Matt Baker in the pronunciation of McClenaghan.

I felt the same @Octocat about Matt Baker's pronunciation and was giving off to my family & then the UTV news presenter pronounced it the exact same way, so they all thought I was moaning for no good reason

Me too.

You are quite right OP.

If I was Northern Irish I'd be pissed off too.

NI born and bred here. Not offended in the slightest.

Yes, but that is because of the historical context in Ireland and compromises and concessions that have been made as a result of it. NI is currently part of the UK, just because NI athletes compete for Ireland doesn’t suddenly make NI part of Ireland. I agree that most athletes are more likely to choose who they represent based on funding, likelihood of selection, where they train etc rather than their political beliefs, but is it not common decency to acknowledge such a large chunk of the UK?