Because, technically, there are no nations at the Olympic games, just representatives of all of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs). These usually, but not always, align with actual nations.
So, there are no NOCs for the constituent nations of the UK and the NOC is called ‘GB and Northern Ireland’ for complicated historical reasons.
Other oddities include teams like the Cook Islands, which are part of NZ but have their own NOC, Aruba, which is technically the Netherlands, the United States Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, which has its own NOC separate from China.
Because soccer is beholden to the rules of Association Football, meaning the UK gets to decide what qualifies as a country. In the meantime the IOC has a rule that a NOC only qualifies as based along the lines of the governmental body which treats with the UN. There are some dependent territories who get special treatment (e.g. Bermuda, Puerto Rico) which traditionally sent teams before the rule on must treat with the UN directly and are grandfathered in.
why is Great Britain in the Olympics and not England, Wales etc, like in football?
Because, technically, there are no nations at the Olympic games, just representatives of all of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs). These usually, but not always, align with actual nations.
So, there are no NOCs for the constituent nations of the UK and the NOC is called ‘GB and Northern Ireland’ for complicated historical reasons.
Other oddities include teams like the Cook Islands, which are part of NZ but have their own NOC, Aruba, which is technically the Netherlands, the United States Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, which has its own NOC separate from China.
There are others.
Puerto Rico is a classic one as well
Because soccer is beholden to the rules of Association Football, meaning the UK gets to decide what qualifies as a country. In the meantime the IOC has a rule that a NOC only qualifies as based along the lines of the governmental body which treats with the UN. There are some dependent territories who get special treatment (e.g. Bermuda, Puerto Rico) which traditionally sent teams before the rule on must treat with the UN directly and are grandfathered in.