# 2012 Olympics host team was Great Britain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454 "2019-03-03T00:21:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/1 "2019-03-03T00:21:30Z")
Why not United Kingdom? [https://youtu.be/4As0e4de-rI?t=11047](https://youtu.be/4As0e4de-rI?t=11047) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/2 "2019-03-03T01:05:49Z")
“United Kingdom” is not a place name, but rather a descriptor. Great Britain, because it is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain (and …) " So that tells people where the athletes (mostly) are from. Should be noted that various overseas territories and Crown dependencies also contribute to that team. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/3 "2019-03-03T06:14:25Z")
Just because, I think. When the modern Olympics was established, there was less pernickety distinction between geographical Great Britain and the United Kingdom (with or without the self-governing island dependencies). In particular, all of Ireland was still part of it. And GB stayed the most convenient portmanteau term, both for the Olympic association and, I’d imagine, the most familiar internationally ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/4 "2019-03-03T06:17:47Z")
In fact, the two-letter code for the country, uh, nation, uh, political entity is GB. This also has the added advantage of being a pair of initials which happens to stay true through translations to most European languages. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/5 "2019-03-03T13:38:01Z")
For the same reason that the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are both on the “Ireland” team. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/6 "2019-03-03T14:52:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the same reason that the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are both on the “Ireland” team. No, folks in Northern Ireland get to choose - they can represent the republic or the uk. Technically, the name of the team is “Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team”, but the common logo is “[Team GB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_GB)”. That has been criticized for excluding any mention of Northern Ireland, as per the wiki article: > [@](#): > > The team is officially known as the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team,[3] and the use of Team GB as the BOA’s branding is seen as inadequate by some, as it suggests the team is drawn from Great Britain alone, which only consists of England, Scotland and Wales, while omitting the rest of the territories where BOA athletes are eligible for selection, most notably Northern Ireland, as well as the Crown dependencies (Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey), and those British Overseas Territories (BOT) that are not represented by their own National Olympic Committee. > > In June 2009, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Sports Minister Gregory Campbell suggested that the name should be changed as the abbreviated form was not inclusive enough as it “excludes, and indeed alienates, the people of Northern Ireland”.[5] Campbell’s successor, Nelson McCausland, also suggested that an alternative name be found.[6] > > A significant complication is that the Olympic Council of Ireland, established in 1920 while Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, claims to represent the whole island of Ireland and not merely the Republic. The OCI and BOA have an agreement under which Northern Ireland sportspeople may choose to compete for either team,[7] and in fact most Northern Ireland athletes choose to represent the OCI at the Olympic Games and not Team GB.[8] ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/7 "2019-03-03T15:03:53Z")
Puerto Rico has an olympic team and they are part of the US . I assume their residents can choose which team to compete for. ---
**Author:** ![Remember\_me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/82dd89/32.png) [@Remember\_me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remember_me)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2012-olympics-host-team-was-great-britain/830454/8 "2019-03-03T16:39:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the same reason that the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are both on the “Ireland” team. You probably mixed that up with Rugby (both, Union and League). Here, the national team represenents the whole Island of Ireland. They do not, however, compete against a British national team but rather against the national teams of England, Scotland or Wales (and of other countries). I am unsure how that would have been handled if Ireland would have qualified for the Olympic Rugby Sevens tournament (where Fiji took the gold medal, the country’s first ever medal)