Callum Skinner Congratulated By Leave.EU, Team GB Cyclist Shoots Them Down

And they got his medals wrong πŸ”₯ πŸ”₯ πŸ”₯
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One of the weirder side effects of Team GB’s phenomenal success at the Rio Olympics has been the flurry of Brexiteers claiming the EU referendum vote is somehow responsible.

Take Ukip member David Hadley for example.

Jack Prentice the whole British Olympic Team have all been inspired by BREXIT @UKIP #UKIP https://t.co/mh8aQ3S1E1

β€” David Hadley (@DavidHadley1973) August 15, 2016

And he’s not alone.

The #Anglosphere are the top 2 medal winners in the #Olympics
Yaaaaay!
And all because of #Brexit. Natch. pic.twitter.com/qULauiWqop

β€” Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) August 14, 2016

On Tuesday evening even the Leave.EU campaign group was trying to get in on the action with this little video.

A fantastic effort so far by @TeamGB! We may be small, but we truly are Great Britain! #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/QuhFiD3i32

β€” LEAVE.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) August 15, 2016

Starting off with a couple of soundbites of Brexit scepticism, it goes on to list the medals won by Team GB so far.

Among them is cyclist Callum Skinner who won gold in the men’s team sprint and silver in the individual sprint (which Leave.EU managed to get wrong).

Skinner’s response? Thanks but no thanks.

@LeaveEUOfficial @TeamGB thanks the the support 😊 but I wish you wouldn't use my image to promote your campaign. πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§

β€” Callum Skinner (@CallumSkinner) August 16, 2016

His response went down a storm, even with fellow Olympians.

@CallumSkinner @LeaveEUOfficial @TeamGB What a blooming cheek!! Well said Callum πŸ‘Œ

β€” Jo Calvino (@JoCalvino) August 16, 2016

@CallumSkinner @lucyfur46 @LeaveEUOfficial @TeamGB Good man. Well said & respect for your integrity.

β€” Robert Buntin (@BuntinRobert) August 16, 2016

@CallumSkinner @LeaveEUOfficial @TeamGB It's nonsense to draw any parallel between the olympics and brexit. Good on you Callum πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§

β€” sgoldswo (@sgoldswo) August 17, 2016

Of course, it may actually have more to do with extra funding and the insanely hard work put in by athletes, coaches and all those whose roles support Team GB.

UK Sport, the government agency that allocates Exchequer and National Lottery money to Olympic and Paralympic sport, believes the success is no fluke.

UK Sport’s director of performance Simon Timson said:

β€œThis is not happening by chance: this is success by design. It’s a result of 18 years of consistent, coherent, targeted National Lottery investment and the partnership we have forged with the British Olympic Association.”

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