I’m excited for this lea Valley ice rink as I’m competing in lea valley open which is fairly soon ������
Erm, just a small correction. Although the river and the valley it is in is spelt "Lea", the name of the park (along with it's ice rink) in the said valley is spelt "Lee".
Does anybody know the reason for this discrepency? Is it a clever double-reference to a person as well as the river?
Yesterday, I was watching the British Superbike meeting from Knockhill (in Fife, Scotland), and something happened which reminded me of a question I wanted to ask after watching the livestream of the British Figure Skating Championships.
One of the races yesterday was won by a Scottish rider. And, since the meeting was being in Scotland, the organisers played "Flower Of Scotland" as a special treat instead of the usual "God Save The Queen". And it started me thinking again about something I have often wondered - why is it that in domestic British Championships, where everybody competing is from the UK, that the overall UK National Anthem is played for the winner during the podium ceremonies, rather than the National Anthem of the specific country that the winner is from?
Like, it would add a bit of variety if we heard "Jerusalem" for the English skaters; "Flower Of Scotland" for the Scottish skaters; "Old Land Of My Fathers" for the Welsh skaters; and "Danny Boy" for the Northern Irish skaters. Especially since the British Figure Skating Championships are one of those events that hold all the podium ceremonies back-to-back at the end of the day. (That is one thing I hate, keeping the ceremonies to the end of the day. They should be held straight after the corresponding competition, so that the skaters don't have to hang around in their costumes all day).
Of course, this could get complicated for partnerships where the skaters are from different places. But, "God Save The Queen" could be used for them.
The situation with the anthems is so confusing. Returning to motorbike racing for a moment, when I have been at the Ulster Grand Prix, I have noticed that the Scottish, Welsh and Manx riders get their own anthems played. But the English and Northern Irish riders don't - they both get "God Save The Queen". And from what I saw during the football matches that were played during and before the Women's World Cup, it was the same situation there. Yet, at the Commonwealth Games, all the competitors get their own anthems played.
I have never seen a podium ceremony from any sport where the winner is from the Channel Islands (sorry Andy Priaulx, but touring car racing is one of the forms of motorsport that I didn't get into). So, I don't know if they ever get their relevant anthem ("Ma Normandie" for Jersey; "Sarnia Cherie" for Guernsey) played or not.
For that matter, does anybody know if there has ever been any competitive figure skaters from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man? After being in Jersey last week, I have got really curious.
CaroLiza_fan
:disapp:
