The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, has successively run every four years since. The event was called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, and the British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974. The event removed the word British from its title for the 1978 Games and has maintained its current name ever since.
The Crown Dependencies are three offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, both located in the English Channel and together known as the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games. They may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and the training of coaches and officials at a national level within their geographies.
Cricket was played at the 1900 Summer Olympics, a men's contest with only two entrants, won by Great Britain over France. It is scheduled to be included again in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with men's and women's Twenty20 tournaments.
The terminology of the British Isles comprises the words and phrases that are used to describe the geographical and political areas of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the smaller islands which surround them. The terms are often a source of confusion, partly owing to the similarity between some of the actual words used but also because they are often used loosely. Many of the words carry geographical and political connotations which are affected by the history of the islands. The inclusion of Ireland in the geographical definition of British Isles is debated. Ordnance Survey Ireland does not use the term.
Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. It is meant to unify the team as one body, irrespective of each member athlete's particular sport. Officially, the team is the "Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team", although athletes from Northern Ireland may opt to compete under the auspices of the Olympic Federation of Ireland instead.
The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games. By end of the 2024 Summer Olympics, it is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by overall number of medals, and fourth in number of gold medals won. London hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012.
The 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, officially known as the IV Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Isle Of Man 2011, is a multi-sport event which took place from 7 to 13 September 2011 in the British Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man. As per the original quadrennial cycle, the Games were scheduled for 2012. However, the Commonwealth Games Federation at its general assembly in 2005 decided to move the Games within one year before the Summer Olympics. The Bowl Stadium at the National Sports Centre, Douglas staged the opening ceremony on 7 September 2011. The closing ceremony was held on Douglas Promenade & the Villa Marina on 13 September.
A team representing Ireland as an independent state or polity has competed at the Summer Olympic Games since 1924, and at the Winter Olympic Games since 1992.
Rugby union is a popular sport in the British Isles, including England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The game was arguably invented in 1823 by William Webb Ellis, and in 1871 the English Rugby Football Union was the first national rugby football union to be founded. It is organised separately in each of these countries, and also on an all-Ireland basis.
England is one of only six teams to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
Guernsey participates in its own right in the Commonwealth Games.
Benjamin Robert Hawes is a former English field hockey player, a 3xOlympian who played for the English and the British national team in midfield or as a halfback.
Shara Proctor is a British former long jumper born in Anguilla. She is the national record holder of both Anguilla and Great Britain. On 28 August 2015 at the World Championships in Beijing she became the first British, female, long-jumper to jump over 7 metres (7.07), setting a new British record and earning a world championship silver medal in the process. She also won the 2013 IAAF Diamond League in the event. Her younger sister is the Anguillan sprinter Shinelle Proctor.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the United Kingdom.
Zharnel Hughes is an Anguilla-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, World Athletics and European Athletics events, and for England at the Commonwealth Games, since 2015. A double Commonwealth Games, double European Championships gold medalist as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Hughes has twice been European champion individually; over 100 metres in 2018, and 200 metres in 2022. In 2023, he broke both British sprint records, before winning his first global individual medal, a bronze in the 100 metres at the 2023 World championships.
The Anguilla Amateur Athletic Federation (AAAF) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Anguilla. Current president is Lorna Rogers.
Great Britain, or in full Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), the previous host of the 2012 Olympics at London, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016 and the team of selected athletes was officially known as Team GB. British athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Greece, and Switzerland, though Great Britain is the only country to have won at least one gold medal at all of them. The team represented the United Kingdom, the three Crown Dependencies, and the thirteen British Overseas Territories, ten of whom sent representatives.
There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, and three Crown dependencies which are under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom but not part of the United Kingdom itself. Some of these territories have gained membership of international intergovernmental organisations and sports federations. Notably Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Montserrat are associate members of UNESCO; Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands are members of the International Olympic Committee; and Bermuda is a member of the International Paralympic Committee.
United Kingdom 
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