Robert Henderson
The final Great Britain tally of medals at the 2012 Olympics was 65 comprised of 29 Gold, 16 Silver, 19 Bronze.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland managed a grand total of six medals comprised of 3 gold, two silver and one bronze in individual events.
In group events, the tally of Celtic Fringe medals was 16 comprised of 7 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze. There was no case of an all Celt team winning. There were always English competitors with them.
Scotland
Individual medals (2)
Chris Hoy, Gold, Cycling, Keirin
Andy Murray, Gold, Tennis, Mens’ Singles
Michael Jamieson, Silver, Swimming, 200m Breaststroke
Medals as part of a group (11)
Chris Hoy, Gold, Cycling, Team Sprint.
Heather Stanning, Gold, Rowing, Coxless Pair
Katherine Grainger, Gold, Rowing, Double Sculls
Scott Brash, Gold, Equestrian, Team Jumping
Timothy Baillie, Gold, Canoeing Slalom, C-2 team
David Florence, Silver, Canoeing Slalom, C-2 team
Luke Patience, Silver, Sailing, Mens 470
Andy Murray, Silver, Tennis, Mixed Doubles
Daniel Purvis, Bronze, Gymnastics, Team All-round
Laura Bartlett, Bronze, Field Hockey,
Emily Maguire, Bronze, Field Hockey
Wales
Individual medals (2)
Jade Jones, Gold, Women’s taekwondo under-57kg
Fred Evans, Silver, Men’s welterweight boxing
Medals as part of a group (5)
Geraint Thomas, Gold, Men’s cycling team pursuit
Tom James, Gold, Men’s coxless four
Chris Bartley, Silver, Men’s lightweight four rowing
Hannah Mills, Silver, Women’s sailing 470 class
Sarah Thomas, Bronze, Women’s hockey
Northern Ireland
Individual medals (1)
Alan Campbell, bronze , the men’s single sculls
Medals as part of a group (1)
Peter and Richard Chambers silver, the men’s lightweight four
How would the four home countries have fared as independent nations?
If the Celtic involvement in team medals had not existed it is probable that England would have been able to fill the places with competitors of equal quality.
If the Celtic nations had to compete as separate nations they would not be able to produce teams from their much smaller populations to produce an equivalent number of team medals. In fact, it is probable that there would have been no team medals for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland if they competed as individual nations in 2012.
The other problem for separate Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Olympic teams would be funding and facilities. The vast majority of money provided for athletes (using the word broadly to include all sports and games involving physical abilities) under the British or UK banner is English. Independent Celtic nations would not be able to fund Celtic athletes at anything like the same level as Britain currently does.
On top of the immediate funding of athletes, the Celts would have the problem of facilities. Most of the major facilities are in England and many of the Celtic athletes train and live in England. Those facilities would not be available without charge or all to athletes from independent Celtic nations. This would not necessarily simply be a matter of England wishing to deny Celtic athletes opportunities to train. It could also be that the facilities would not have the capacity to host more than one team.
How would an independent England fare at the Olympics? England would probably have come fourth rather than third in the present Olympics if they had competed as an independent nation. In the longer term it is likely there would be little if any difference because the population of England is large enough to find talented replacements for the Celts who would no longer compete under the Great Britain banner.
Appearing simply as England could t improve English performances. As England provide the large majority of the funding for British athletes and has almost all of the main training facilities, the removal of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the scene could benefit English athletes as they received more funding and greater training opportunities.
There is a further consideration. Athletes who say they are Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland as things stand , might well claim they were English if the Celtic nations were independent to get access to English funding and facilities. This is especially true of those athletes who are English in culture and upbringing, but who claim to be Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish on tenuous grounds such as a grandparent who was or is Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish. They would probably have little difficulty in saying they were English. The lure of English funding and facilities has the potential to significantly reduce the pool of talent available to the Celtic nations.
The picture is clear: England would suffer no disadvantage and might well gain by appearing as an independent team: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be reduced, at best, to the status of a Norway or Slovenia.
