I am ashamed......................

[fillymum]

I love the Olympics and am glued to every event I can watch. Obviously with my background the Equestrian events rank top of my list. I know all the members of The Spanish team so I am really pulled when it comes to Britain and Spain. But as I said I can watch anything and be filled with pride for the U.K.

So what am I ashamed of ????? I am ashamed of the fact that there are so many countries I have never heard of. How is that possible ??? How amany new countries can there be......................

 

[Minimunchkins]

Can I assume you're refering to the 'stan' countries - - - - if so, I'll hang my head with you :ashamed0005:. .Half of them sound as though they're just made up :8855:

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Well, to be fair, some countries do change their names! And there are places which used to be part of the USSR or Yugoslavia which are now countries in their own right.

 

[dudette2001uk]

I'm exactly the same Sue! When those 204 countries were traipsing into the stadium I realised that I hadn't heard of half of them Geography has never been a strength of mine mind! xx

 

[fillymum]

Can I assume you're refering to the 'stan' countries - - - - if so, I'll hang my head with you :ashamed0005:. .Half of them sound as though they're just made up :8855:

LOL !!!!!

Though I am familiar with some of the stan countries as I belong to a charity that helps people in most of these wierd sounding places.

 

[chazzdiver]

id been at work for a late shift the night before, and had an early shift on the actual day. I was surprised I stayed awake to the g's if I'm honest. However I am slightly proud by my complete and utter failure of geography, as I'm sure if I knew all the names and the original names my brain would have exploded years ago.

I just support my own and any other Olympian who doesn't act all cocky before, during and after the event.

 

[Shirleen]

I thought between my hubby and I we were quite well versed on country names due to my 10 years on Post Office Counters and his 15 years in Parcelforce and Royal Mail but we were flummoxed by quite a few!

 

[tara40]

You are not alone lol

 

[Beegee]

It's not just never having heard of them, but where are they now?! There were loads of countries I'd never heard of at the opening ceremony but I haven't seen any from the Democratic Republic of Wherever or those 'stan' countries in the line-ups at all. I've been borderline obsessive with my Olympics watching so where have all those people gone?!

 

[Chubbylass]

I haven't seen any of the women from the arabian countries competing yet!! They made a big point of saying that this is the first time these countries had female athletes competing, did I miss them?

 

[Shirleen]

There was an Egyptian lady in the Artistic Gymnastics today.

 

[peacelily]

I haven't seen any of the women from the arabian countries competing yet!! They made a big point of saying that this is the first time these countries had female athletes competing, did I miss them?

Yes one of the runners from Saudi Arabia finished last 45 seconds after the winner and 32seconds behind the 2nd to last runner. She got a standing ovation from the crowd for competing and finishing. Another of the runners had an injury whilst running and had to be stretchered off. Another competed in the judo (I think?) and went out in the first round after one minute. Not sure of any of the others. However each one had a hard time getting to the Olympics and stories of lots of abuse for doing so. Hats off to them as they are definitely pioneers in their countries.

 

[hatwell]

An interesting thing about the Olympics is that the list of countries recognized by the IOC is different to countries recognized by the United Nations. For example, Puerto Rico competes as a country in the Olympics when it is actually a territory of the USA, and South Sudan is now officially a country according to the UN but is not recognized yet by Olympic authorities. Even more confusing!

 

[fillymum]

An interesting thing about the Olympics is that the list of countries recognized by the IOC is different to countries recognized by the United Nations. For example, Puerto Rico competes as a country in the Olympics when it is actually a territory of the USA, and South Sudan is now officially a country according to the UN but is not recognized yet by Olympic authorities. Even more confusing!

thanks that is so interesting to me and just confirms that on a global basis the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing