Olympic Update: Anthem Confusion at the Podium

Posted by Cynical Sarah on February 9, 2006

At the medal ceremony for the men’s mogul event, attendees and officials alike were confused when it came time for the national anthem.

Dale Begg-Smith won the gold in the event. And though he was born and still lives in Canada, he was skiing for Australia. Olympic officials accidentally started playing the Canadian national anthem at the ceremony instead of the Australian one.

“We thought it was odd that the audience would actually start to boo during another nation’s anthem. Then we realized our mistake,” said medal ceremony emcee Stephanie Lanzoni.

Once the music was corrected, the medal ceremony continued without any problems.

“You can understand their confusion,” said one observer. “I’m still not sure myself how it is that guy was skiing for Australia and not Canada.”

Begg-Smith lives and trains in Vancouver. He was born in Canada and switched to Australia when he was looking for a ski program and trainer that fit his needs and schedule.

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