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Template:Infobox Olympics Great Britain Great Britain is the name used by the United Kingdom at the Olympic Games. Great Britain was one of 14 teams to compete in the first Games, the 1896 Summer Olympics, and has competed at every Games. Athletes representing Great Britain have won 669 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 21 at the Winter Olympic Games. Great Britain is the only team to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Games.

Great Britain was the name assigned to the United Kingdom team by the International Olympic Committee for the 1908 Summer Olympics along with the IOC country code GBR. The team is also referred to as Team GB or Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Under the terms of a long-standing settlement between the British Olympic Association and the Olympic Council of Ireland, athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent the Ireland team instead of the Great Britain team.

Hosted Games

London, the United Kingdom's capital, has hosted the Games on two occasions, and is scheduled to host the 2012 Summer Olympics:

This makes London the only city to host the games three times.

Summer Games results

Winter Games results

Medals by sport

Archery

Athletics

Badminton

Great Britain has competed in all Badminton events held at the Summer Olympics since badminton made its full debut as an Olympic sport in 1992.

The figures from 1972 do not count towards the total as badminton was a demonstration sport.

Boxing

Great Britain made its Olympic boxing debut in 1908.

Cricket

Great Britain and Ireland was one of only two nations to compete in the only Olympic cricket match, in 1900. The team won, making them the only nation to win an Olympic cricket contest and the only Olympic gold medallists in cricket.

Cycling

Diving

Great Britain made its Olympic diving debut in 1908.

Equestrian

Great Britain first competed in the 1912 competition having not competed in the first event held in 1900.

Fencing

Great Britain won its first fencing medal, a silver, in 1908 at the London Games.

Figure skating

Great Britain hosted the first Olympic figure skating contests in 1908.

Football

Great Britain and Ireland - now represented separately by Team Ireland and Team Great Britain - was one of three nations to play in the inaugural football tournament, winning their only match to take the first Olympic gold medal in football. They competed in the nine Olympics in the table below.

In 1974 the FA abolished the distinction between "amateur" and "professional" footballers in England. This ended the practice of "shamateurism", where players claimed to be amateur but still got irregular payments from their clubs. At that time the Olympics were only open to amateur competitors, so the British Associations were no longer able to enter a football team. Also, the Great Britain is not a member of FIFA and its athletes participate in international football competitions as members of the national teams of the home nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), none of which have National Olympic Committees. As a result Great Britiain usually does not participate in Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Golf

Great Britain was one of four nations to play golf at the first Olympic golf events in 1900. They did not compete in the only other Olympic golf competition held in 1904.

Gymnastics

Great Britain's first gymnastics medal came in 1908 with a silver in the men's individual all-around. Until 2008, Great Britain's last medal for gymnastics was a Bronze in the Women's all-round team event in 1928.

Hockey

Great Britain's hosted the first Olympic field hockey tournament in 1908.

Jeu de paume

Great Britain hosted the only Olympic jeu de paume tournament in 1908.

Lacrosse

Great Britain's Olympic lacrosse debut was in 1908.

Modern Pentathlon

Great Britain's Olympic modern pentathlon debut was in 1912 when the it was first included in the Olympics. When the women's event was added in 2000 Great Britain won the gold and bronze medals.

Polo

Great Britain was one of four nations to compete in the debut of Olympic polo. Three of the five teams had British players, and those three teams took both the top two places and split the third place with the Mexican team.

Rackets

Great Britain hosted the only Olympic rackets tournament, in 1908.

Rowing

Britain took a bronze medal in the first Olympic rowing competition, in 1900.

Rugby

Britain took a silver medal in the first Olympic rugby competition, in 1900.

Sailing

Britain took five gold medals in the first Olympic sailing events, in 1900.

Shooting

Great Britain's first shooting medals came when the nation hosted the 1908 Games, at which the British shooters dominated the competitions.

Swimming

Great Britain was the most successful nation in swimming in 1900, its debut in the sport. Jarvis's pair of gold medals and Kemp's bronze made Britain's first outing a successful one.

Tennis

John Pius Boland dominated the 1896 tennis tournaments. Tennis in 1896 was a sport which allowed mixed teams, and both Boland and George S. Robertson joined partners from other nations to win their medals. Britain again dominated in 1900, taking all four gold medals and adding 7 other medals (3 as part of mixed teams).

Triathlon

Great Britain competed in the first two triathlon competitions held in 2000 and 2004. Their best finish is a 6th place in the women's triathlon in 2004.

Tug of war

Great Britain's Olympic tug of war debut came when the nation hosted the Games in 1908. Great Britain were then one of only 2 teams to compete in 1912 and they also won the last Tug of War competition held in the Olympics in 1920.

Water motorsports

Great Britain hosted the only Olympic water motorsports contests, in 1908.

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

See also

• Category:Olympic competitors for Great Britain

References

1. http://www.olympics.org.uk/contentpage.aspx?page=127
2. http://www.olympics.org.uk/contentpage.aspx?page=127
3. "Why did Great Britain stop entering a football team into the Olympics?". The FA. Retrieved 2008-08-04.

• "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
• "British Olympic Committee". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2007-10-10.

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