Wrong National Anthem at U20 European Championships
How does this keep happening?
Violetta Skvortsova won the women's triple jump at the U20 European Track and Field Championships in Italy for her native Belarus. Her hard work resulted in a gold medal.
Only 19 years old, you can imagine the joy and pride that Skvortsova felt in that moment. Very little could compare to what she had just accomplished.
And then things took a wrong turn.
Standing at the top of the podium, Skvortsova braced herself to hear the thronging melody of the Belarus anthem. But that isn't what event organizers at the U20 European Championships played.
Instead of hearing her native Belarus' anthem, she heard the bellowing echo of the Bosnia and Herzegovina chorus.
Skvortsova, being the patriot she is, refused to stand through the blunder for another nation's anthem.
People across the world are applauding Skvortsova for her patriotism and for refusing to stand during someone else's mistake.
My issue with this whole ordeal has nothing to do with Skvortsova. Instead, I'm confused as to how this same mistake keeps happening?
International soccer competitions. World championships. Olympic events. How do event organizers continue to find themselves playing the incorrect national anthems? I even found several videos of the Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina anthems through YouTube. If I can do it, why can't they figure it out?
Is there something event organizers across the world can do to help eliminate such a simple yet embarrassing and offensive mistake?
I get we're all human. We all fail and make mistakes. But there are some areas where failure isn't tolerated, and I kind of feel like this is an area where we should strive to do a whole lot better.
Maybe the answer is Dropbox. Perhaps we should start a Dropbox folder that the world has access to and can play anthems from--only a select few people can edit because, well, the people in charge right now have proven to be flawed.
All joking aside, is there no way a massive database can be created, edited and updated so that blunders like playing the wrong national anthem are eliminated entirely?
Technology's made rapid advancements. Event organizers probably should, too.
*Source: NBC Sports