Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed as the host nation of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The British Olympic Association was the National Olympic Committee responsible for organizing the United Kingdom's representation. At the time British athletes competed under the team name "United Kingdom". The British team comprised 676 competitors. A number of Irish athletes boycotted the games in protest at British refusals to grant Irish Home Rule. During the opening ceremony, American athletes did not dip their flag to the British royalty in support of the Irish
Olympic Games ceremony Committee makes a speech. The IOC President then makes a speech before closing the Olympics by saying:"And now, in accordance with tradition, I declare the Games of the [ordinal number of Summer Olympics] Olympiad/[ordinal number of Winter Olympics] Olympic Winter Games closed; and call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in [name of next host city] to celebrate the Games of the [subsequent ordinal number of Summer Olympics] Olympiad/[subsequent ordinal number of Winter Olympics] Olympic Winter Games". Finally, the Olympic flame is extinguished, marking the end of the Games. Olympic Games ceremony Olympic Games