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Does this country ever compete in international sport?

ChizzChizz
in Other Football and Sports
Deliberately strange question, but I wondered if the United Kingdom ever competes in international sports?  I have never really thought about it in the past and I can't think of any - although I am sure there must be.  
  • England compete in many of the most important sports: football, cricket, rugby, etc. (Although, officially, the England cricket team is the team of the England and Wales cricket board). 
  • GB is represented in the Olympics and the Davis Cup. 
  • "The UK and Ireland" is represented by the British and Irish Lions (and any other sports..?) 
  • "Europe" competes in the Ryder Cup.  

But is there a sport or competition in which "the UK" participates? 

It's interesting that Andy Murray has competed for GB, but never Scotland; Rory McIlroy, born in the UK, has competed for Europe (in the Ryder Cup) and Ireland (in the Olympics) but never (as far as I am aware) for the country of his birth, the UK. 

I am sure the CL hive mind will be able to point out if there are sports in which the UK participates, and if there are anomalies in how "our" international sports teams are named.  

(To be crystal clear, this is NOT an invitation to discuss "foreigners", nation states, whether or not Scotland should be independent, Brexit, the unification of Ireland, what colour passports are.  It's about the names under which UK sports people compete, internationally). 
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Comments

  • ForeverAddicktedForeverAddickted
    Has Andy Murray never competed in the Commonwealth Games? 
  • letthegoodtimesrollletthegoodtimesroll
    Chizz said:
    Deliberately strange question, but I wondered if the United Kingdom ever competes in international sports?  I have never really thought about it in the past and I can't think of any - although I am sure there must be.  
    • England compete in many of the most important sports: football, cricket, rugby, etc. (Although, officially, the England cricket team is the team of the England and Wales cricket board). 
    • GB is represented in the Olympics and the Davis Cup. 
    • "The UK and Ireland" is represented by the British and Irish Lions (and any other sports..?) 
    • "Europe" competes in the Ryder Cup.  

    But is there a sport or competition in which "the UK" participates? 

    It's interesting that Andy Murray has competed for GB, but never Scotland; Rory McIlroy, born in the UK, has competed for Europe (in the Ryder Cup) and Ireland (in the Olympics) but never (as far as I am aware) for the country of his birth, the UK. 

    I am sure the CL hive mind will be able to point out if there are sports in which the UK participates, and if there are anomalies in how "our" international sports teams are named.  

    (To be crystal clear, this is NOT an invitation to discuss "foreigners", nation states, whether or not Scotland should be independent, Brexit, the unification of Ireland, what colour passports are.  It's about the names under which UK sports people compete, internationally). 
    Probably too much hassle for Andy Murray to compete for Scotland, questions about eligibility to do so would be raised as soon as he qualified for the second round…
  • killerandflashkillerandflash
    ForeverAddickted said:
    Has Andy Murray never competed in the Commonwealth Games? 
    No Tennis in the Commonwealth Games
  • ForeverAddicktedForeverAddickted
    killerandflash said:
    ForeverAddickted said:
    Has Andy Murray never competed in the Commonwealth Games? 
    No Tennis in the Commonwealth Games
    Yeah just checked; it was removed from the Games in 2014; Andy opted against playing in 2010
  • MrOneLungMrOneLung
    think it was because in the first Olympics we were given the abbreviation GBR by the organisers and it has stuck

    No one moniker quite works.

    Team Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands and UK Overseas Territories would be quite a mouthful
  • golfaddickgolfaddick
    The names UK & GB are basically the same. The UK is more of a political term whereas GB is more geographical. Both cover the 4 countries of England, Scotland, Wales & NI. 
  • killerandflashkillerandflash
    ForeverAddickted said:
    killerandflash said:
    ForeverAddickted said:
    Has Andy Murray never competed in the Commonwealth Games? 
    No Tennis in the Commonwealth Games
    Yeah just checked; it was removed from the Games in 2014; Andy opted against playing in 2010
    I stand (partially) corrected as I never realised that tennis was even in the 2010 Commonwealth games! 
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  • ChizzChizz
    golfaddick said:
    The names UK & GB are basically the same. The UK is more of a political term whereas GB is more geographical. Both cover the 4 countries of England, Scotland, Wales & NI. 
    Usually you post stuff that turns out not to be true after you've posted.  So, this is innovative. 
  • se9addickse9addick
    golfaddick said:
    The names UK & GB are basically the same. The UK is more of a political term whereas GB is more geographical. Both cover the 4 countries of England, Scotland, Wales & NI. 
    I can’t believe someone from the U.K. doesn’t understand the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom. 
  • scidboxscidbox
    golfaddick said:
    The names UK & GB are basically the same. The UK is more of a political term whereas GB is more geographical. Both cover the 4 countries of England, Scotland, Wales & NI. 
    British passports state - The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. NI has never been a part of Great Britain (I'm not being political)
    I read a couple of times that the term Great Britain is pre Celtic and refers to the greater (size) of the British Isles whereas Ireland (inc NI) is one of the lesser (size) British Isles.
  • se9addickse9addick
    I know that ISO, the international standards body, use GB rather than U.K. in our country designation, apparently this is the explanation:

    “Why is the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) coded GB in ISO 3166-1?

    The codes in ISO 3166-1 are - wherever possible - chosen to reflect the significant, unique component of the country name in order to allow a visual association between country name and country code. Since name components like Republic, Kingdom, United, Federal or Democratic are used very often in country names we usually do not derive the country code elements from them in order to avoid ambiguity. The name components United and Kingdom are not appropriate for ISO 3166-1. Therefore the code "GB" was created from Great Britain and not "UK" for United Kingdom.”

  • ChizzChizz
    scidbox said:
    golfaddick said:
    The names UK & GB are basically the same. The UK is more of a political term whereas GB is more geographical. Both cover the 4 countries of England, Scotland, Wales & NI. 
    British passports state - The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. NI has never been a part of Great Britain (I'm not being political)
    I read a couple of times that the term Great Britain is pre Celtic and refers to the greater (size) of the British Isles whereas Ireland (inc NI) is one of the lesser (size) British Isles.
    I understood the etymology of Great Britain was that the term "great" was used to differentiate it from the "other Britain" which was Brittany. 
  • ChizzChizz
    se9addick said:
    I know that ISO, the international standards body, use GB rather than U.K. in our country designation, apparently this is the explanation:

    “Why is the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) coded GB in ISO 3166-1?

    The codes in ISO 3166-1 are - wherever possible - chosen to reflect the significant, unique component of the country name in order to allow a visual association between country name and country code. Since name components like Republic, Kingdom, United, Federal or Democratic are used very often in country names we usually do not derive the country code elements from them in order to avoid ambiguity. The name components United and Kingdom are not appropriate for ISO 3166-1. Therefore the code "GB" was created from Great Britain and not "UK" for United Kingdom.”

    I wonder if they're consistent with this ruling when it comes to the United States..?
  • rinarina
    Athletics is definitely a UK team. British Athletics is the brand name used by UK Athletics who are the governing body for the 4 home nations. Anyone competing in a GB vest is actually representing the UK
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  • ChizzChizz
    rina said:
    Athletics is definitely a UK team. British Athletics is the brand name used by UK Athletics who are the governing body for the 4 home nations. Anyone competing in a GB vest is actually representing the UK
    Including in the Olympics? 
  • rinarina
    Chizz said:
    rina said:
    Athletics is definitely a UK team. British Athletics is the brand name used by UK Athletics who are the governing body for the 4 home nations. Anyone competing in a GB vest is actually representing the UK
    Including in the Olympics? 
    yes. the UKA championships are used as the olympic trials for team GB
  • se9addickse9addick
    Chizz said:
    se9addick said:
    I know that ISO, the international standards body, use GB rather than U.K. in our country designation, apparently this is the explanation:

    “Why is the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) coded GB in ISO 3166-1?

    The codes in ISO 3166-1 are - wherever possible - chosen to reflect the significant, unique component of the country name in order to allow a visual association between country name and country code. Since name components like Republic, Kingdom, United, Federal or Democratic are used very often in country names we usually do not derive the country code elements from them in order to avoid ambiguity. The name components United and Kingdom are not appropriate for ISO 3166-1. Therefore the code "GB" was created from Great Britain and not "UK" for United Kingdom.”

    I wonder if they're consistent with this ruling when it comes to the United States..?
    I note that the US compete as the United States of America, so maybe that makes it slightly more specific than just United States.

    I actually thought ISO giving is GB as our country designation was because “Kingdom” implies something political and thus wasn’t admissible in their naming convention. I can’t actually find evidence of that (but I’m sure I didn’t imagine it!).
  • SomervilleAddickSomervilleAddick
    Chizz said:
    se9addick said:
    I know that ISO, the international standards body, use GB rather than U.K. in our country designation, apparently this is the explanation:

    “Why is the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) coded GB in ISO 3166-1?

    The codes in ISO 3166-1 are - wherever possible - chosen to reflect the significant, unique component of the country name in order to allow a visual association between country name and country code. Since name components like Republic, Kingdom, United, Federal or Democratic are used very often in country names we usually do not derive the country code elements from them in order to avoid ambiguity. The name components United and Kingdom are not appropriate for ISO 3166-1. Therefore the code "GB" was created from Great Britain and not "UK" for United Kingdom.”

    I wonder if they're consistent with this ruling when it comes to the United States..?
    As their statement includes the word “usually”, they are 100% consistent - usually they don’t is the same as sometimes they do. 
  • ChizzChizz
    rina said:
    Chizz said:
    rina said:
    Athletics is definitely a UK team. British Athletics is the brand name used by UK Athletics who are the governing body for the 4 home nations. Anyone competing in a GB vest is actually representing the UK
    Including in the Olympics? 
    yes. the UKA championships are used as the olympic trials for team GB
    So, the GB Olympic team is comprised of one team of GB Olympians and one team of UK track and field athletes? 
  • McBobbinMcBobbin
    GB and GBR are the IBAN two and 3 letter country codes for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" List of country codes by alpha-2, alpha-3 code (ISO 3166) (iban.com) and so when we compete at GB, we are competing as UK, it's just not abbreviated as that. Same 2 letter codes are used for other things, like trade marks and patent applications - GB is the 2 letter code, but the rights cover northern ireland as well.
  • SporadicAddickSporadicAddick
    McBobbin said:
    GB and GBR are the IBAN two and 3 letter country codes for "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" List of country codes by alpha-2, alpha-3 code (ISO 3166) (iban.com) and so when we compete at GB, we are competing as UK, it's just not abbreviated as that. Same 2 letter codes are used for other things, like trade marks and patent applications - GB is the 2 letter code, but the rights cover northern ireland as well.

    Not Brexit related!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58734265#:~:text=British motorists driving outside the,identifier on their number plate.
  • rinarina
    Chizz said:
    rina said:
    Chizz said:
    rina said:
    Athletics is definitely a UK team. British Athletics is the brand name used by UK Athletics who are the governing body for the 4 home nations. Anyone competing in a GB vest is actually representing the UK
    Including in the Olympics? 
    yes. the UKA championships are used as the olympic trials for team GB
    So, the GB Olympic team is comprised of one team of GB Olympians and one team of UK track and field athletes? 
    quite possibly, I have no idea about any of the other sports.
      
    though technically, and just to confuse matters further, it is one team of UK track and field athletes plus race walkers plus road runners (marathon). those are 3 separate disciplines under the umbrella of athletics
  • Off_itOff_it
    edited July 29
    As has been said above, the proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". 

    Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.

    So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.

    Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
  • se9addickse9addick
    Off_it said:
    As has been said above, it's proper name is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". 

    Sometimes that gets abbreviated to UK (eg Eurovision) and sometimes it gets abbreviated to GB or GBR (eg Olympics) , but it's the same place.

    So, to answer the original questions, yes, the UK does compete internationally and is doing so right now, in the Olympics.

    Now, "Holland" and "the Netherlands" on the other hand .......
    Right, but Great Britain is not the same as the United Kingdom - a) Great Britain isn’t the name of a country, it’s the name of an island (I.e it’s a geographic term rather than a political one), b) Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland whereas United Kingdom does.

    The only other country I can think of that doesn’t compete under the actual name of their country is Taiwan (who compete as Taipei). 
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