National Anthems

[Bandit72]

I was just wondering if anyone had any views on whether or not an athlete should be singing his/her national anthem at the medal ceremony? That idiot Piers Morgan (who's on CNN I think) is crying about it on twitter, berating the UK medalists who don't sing. The latest one was Sir Chris Hoy, who although has been knighted by the queen, is Scottish and didn't sing.

I personally don't care if people sing or not. It doesn't mean anything. Plus the English national anthem is so bad anyway, I don't blame anyone for not singing it.

Musically I like the German, French, Welsh and American anthems.

[lollapaloser]

Nikolai Volkoff sang a mean Russian national anthem.

[perkana]

We always sing our anthem and not only that, we salute our flag...so I guess it would be weird if they didn't sing it (not that it will happen in the Olympics ) But, yeah, we love singing it (it gives you goosebumps when it's a bunch of us singing, that's what we usually do)
But I respect the Scot for not doing it...

[creep]

We always sing our anthem and not only that, we salute our flag...so I guess it would be weird if they didn't sing it (not that it will happen in the Olympics ) But, yeah, we love singing it (it gives you goosebumps when it's a bunch of us singing, that's what we usually do)
But I respect the Scot for not doing it...

do you guys have a chance at any gold medals in any events coming up?

[Japhy]

I was just wondering if anyone had any views on whether or not an athlete should be singing his/her national anthem at the medal ceremony? That idiot Piers Morgan (who's on CNN I think) is crying about it on twitter, berating the UK medalists who don't sing. The latest one was Sir Chris Hoy, who although has been knighted by the queen, is Scottish and didn't sing.

I personally don't care if people sing or not. It doesn't mean anything. Plus the English national anthem is so bad anyway, I don't blame anyone for not singing it.

Musically I like the German, French, Welsh and American anthems.

I'm pretty patriotic to be fair and although i don't get too prissy about it, this non-singing issue does rile me on occasion. The Chris Hoy thing rankles me as, although i don't really have an issue with him per se, he should have turned the knighthood down if he didn't see him himself as someone that respected the monarchy. That said, he may not have sang because he didn't know the words... but if he didn't sing due to making some kind of point, drop the Sir.

[Artemis]

I'm not overly patriotic, but I do think at an event such as the Olympics, athletes should sing their anthem. It's only fitting since they are representing their country.

[crater]

do you guys have a chance at any gold medals in any events coming up?

Mexico had a chance to win a gold medal in Archery this morning, but the girl choked big time on her final shot. She needed to get at least an 8, which is what the Korean girl scored on her final shot. The girl from Mexico went second and also got an 8, but it was further away from the center of the target than where the Korean girls arrow landed, so she lost out on her gold. It was awesome.

[Bandit72]

I'm not overly patriotic, but I do think at an event such as the Olympics, athletes should sing their anthem. It's only fitting since they are representing their country.

That's the thing though, "Team GB" isn't one country.

[Artemis]

I'm not overly patriotic, but I do think at an event such as the Olympics, athletes should sing their anthem. It's only fitting since they are representing their country.

That's the thing though, "Team GB" isn't one country.

has it always been like that?

i thought each country in GB competed independently. if they are all under GB, then yes, i see the problem.

[kv]

shocked everyone thinks you have to sing

[creep]

the only way everyone should sing is if they had a microphone. then it would be entertaining. sing if you want...who cares. you just won a medal representing your country. do you really have to prove your love for your country by singing?

[Larry B.]

Well, athletes don't always actually represent their country...

Take Chile's example: athletes receive basically NO support from the government. There is money, but most of it is spent on ridiculous wages for the heads of each federation, trips, bonuses, blah blah, and very little is invested in developing athletes. Tomás Gonzalez will be competing in 2 finals next Sunday and Monday, and he has been treated like SHIT by the local federation (most likely because he's gay.) He has had to look for private investments and only after he had awesome results in a global scale a local multimillionaire phoned him and basically gave him plenty of money to set up his own training space with all the equipment he needs.

Kristel Köbrich (yes, she's from Chile) has spent most of her life training in Argentina, because Chile doesn't have the equipment she needs to train properly. She's the best swimmer in Latin America, yet she didn't even make it into the finals in the Olympics. Same thing: almost no money from the government. Her family pays for her stuff and she has to find sponsors to fund her activities.

I think it was in Athens 2006 where two Chilean tennis players, Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolás Massú, won the gold in doubles and bronze and gold in singles, respectively. Both were really great, but due to the fact that their parents could afford sending them to Nick Bolletieri's camp and invested shitloads of cash, hoping for the best. No support from the State.

They still sang the national anthem when they won, but I was like... 'dude, you don't owe your country shit. if anything, you should be singing the jingle from each of your sponsors.'

[kv]

i just fair to see how not singing is not backing your country...you are standing in your countries jumpsuit representing them as their flag goes up as you stand at attention/in some cases hand over heart in the biggest moment of their life...but if you don't sing you are shaming?...that's fucking sad and shameful to me that people think like that

[Artemis]

i think singing the anthem should be the protocol during the medal presentation. imo, it's image boosting for the athlete and it expresses pride. what's wrong with that?

[Artemis]

i just fair to see how not singing is not backing your country...you are standing in your countries jumpsuit representing them as their flag goes up as you stand at attention/in some cases hand over heart in the biggest moment of their life...but if you don't sing you are shaming?...that's fucking sad and shameful to me that people think like that

who said anything about shaming? way to twist things, kv.

[perkana]

We always sing our anthem and not only that, we salute our flag...so I guess it would be weird if they didn't sing it (not that it will happen in the Olympics ) But, yeah, we love singing it (it gives you goosebumps when it's a bunch of us singing, that's what we usually do)
But I respect the Scot for not doing it...

do you guys have a chance at any gold medals in any events coming up?

are you serious my dear creep?

[perkana]

do you guys have a chance at any gold medals in any events coming up?

Mexico had a chance to win a gold medal in Archery this morning, but the girl choked big time on her final shot. She needed to get at least an 8, which is what the Korean girl scored on her final shot. The girl from Mexico went second and also got an 8, but it was further away from the center of the target than where the Korean girls arrow landed, so she lost out on her gold. It was awesome.

it was really cool, I'm a new fan of archery...I dunno what else they are good at. Usually they were at box, soccer, diving, walk and marathon...but not anymore. They might still have a chance of not making an ass of themselves in soccer. I was kinda disappointed in the second synchronized diving competition

[creep]

We always sing our anthem and not only that, we salute our flag...so I guess it would be weird if they didn't sing it (not that it will happen in the Olympics ) But, yeah, we love singing it (it gives you goosebumps when it's a bunch of us singing, that's what we usually do)
But I respect the Scot for not doing it...

do you guys have a chance at any gold medals in any events coming up?

are you serious my dear creep?

yeah... i don't know. i don't follow other countries. i was just curious.

[Bandit72]

I'm not overly patriotic, but I do think at an event such as the Olympics, athletes should sing their anthem. It's only fitting since they are representing their country.

That's the thing though, "Team GB" isn't one country.

has it always been like that?

i thought each country in GB competed independently. if they are all under GB, then yes, i see the problem.

It's always been Great Britain. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. So obviously the Welsh don't sing the anthem, and neither do the Scots. I don't think it's out of disrespect, I just think it's because it's the English national anthem.

[kv]

i just fair to see how not singing is not backing your country...you are standing in your countries jumpsuit representing them as their flag goes up as you stand at attention/in some cases hand over heart in the biggest moment of their life...but if you don't sing you are shaming?...that's fucking sad and shameful to me that people think like that

who said anything about shaming? way to twist things, kv.

read the first post then get back to me

[perkana]

the only way everyone should sing is if they had a microphone. then it would be entertaining. sing if you want...who cares. you just won a medal representing your country. do you really have to prove your love for your country by singing?

guess it has to do with how you've been raised? I used to sing it on mondays at school (and another song for when you rise the flag)...and you don't need a microphone. Just watch a soccer game, when it's Mexico, the supporters sing it along with the players. It's awesome in my opinion. I'm proud of it.

[perkana]

Well, athletes don't always actually represent their country...

Take Chile's example: athletes receive basically NO support from the government. There is money, but most of it is spent on ridiculous wages for the heads of each federation, trips, bonuses, blah blah, and very little is invested in developing athletes. Tomás Gonzalez will be competing in 2 finals next Sunday and Monday, and he has been treated like SHIT by the local federation (most likely because he's gay.) He has had to look for private investments and only after he had awesome results in a global scale a local multimillionaire phoned him and basically gave him plenty of money to set up his own training space with all the equipment he needs.

Kristel Köbrich (yes, she's from Chile) has spent most of her life training in Argentina, because Chile doesn't have the equipment she needs to train properly. She's the best swimmer in Latin America, yet she didn't even make it into the finals in the Olympics. Same thing: almost no money from the government. Her family pays for her stuff and she has to find sponsors to fund her activities.

I think it was in Athens 2006 where two Chilean tennis players, Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolás Massú, won the gold in doubles and bronze and gold in singles, respectively. Both were really great, but due to the fact that their parents could afford sending them to Nick Bolletieri's camp and invested shitloads of cash, hoping for the best. No support from the State.

They still sang the national anthem when they won, but I was like... 'dude, you don't owe your country shit. if anything, you should be singing the jingle from each of your sponsors.'

Same here...I remember last Olympics some sports commentators from a network raised some money to get a bike for a female competitor. Plus, there was a scandal of sexual harrassment towards the female divers. It's sad.

[perkana]

i just fair to see how not singing is not backing your country...you are standing in your countries jumpsuit representing them as their flag goes up as you stand at attention/in some cases hand over heart in the biggest moment of their life...but if you don't sing you are shaming?...that's fucking sad and shameful to me that people think like that

why is it shameful? because I don't think the same way you do? we're all different and have different opinions. You don't care, I don't care what others do, I just like how we are raised and think it's a big deal and do it. That is all

[Hype]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

Sure, maybe whether a person sings or not has to do with whether or not they were raised in a nationalistic environment, but that has nothing to do with it being good or bad if they do or don't sing an anthem at an international athletic competition.

All schoolchildren are likely taught to sing their national anthem... we certainly were. I know it in English and French. Americans "pledge allegiance to the flag", which just seems crazy to me. I stopped singing the anthem somewhere in primary school because I started thinking for myself and realized we didn't have to sing it if we didn't want to, and it wasn't thought of as disrespectful.

Why would it be thought of as disrespectful? Is there some issue of etiquette or decorum actually being violated? Is it reasonable to infer from an athlete's failure to sing her anthem that she must be a radical anarcho-syndicalist anti-nationalist who ironically decided to compete nationally under the banner of a nation, for some completely inexplicable reason?

[perkana]

I get that...I stopped praying in front of others because I thought "this is bullshit, I don't believe in this". I did it because of peer pressure (even if my school wasn't catholic, we had to pray every day and you would get harrassed even by teachers if you didn't). And I respect you. Here it's just weird if someone doesn't sing it. We're very proud of our anthem and we are very hard on people who forget it, especially on special events (like box matches).
Cool picture from Mexico 68, another hard year for my country. This happened after the student massacre. Yeah, am I cheerful this morning or what?