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Borat is not the Kazakh team's shooting coach. Tammie Arroyo/UK Press/Press Association Images
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Kuwait a minute, that's not our anthem

Cultural learnings needed in Kuwait after anthem mix-up.

IF THERE’S ONE group of athletes you don’t want to annoy, world class shooters are probably top of the list.

But that’s exactly what happened when the comedy national anthem of Kazakhstan, used in Sacha Baron Cohen’s spoof Borat, was played at a medal ceremony in Kuwait instead of the real one.

The mistake happened during Maria Dmitrienko’s medal presentation and team officials immediately complained to their Kuwaiti hosts.

Coach Anvar Yunusmetov told Kazakh news agency Tengrinews that the tournament’s organisers had also got the Serbian national anthem wrong.

“Then Maria Dmitrienko’s turn came,” he said.

“She got up on to the pedestal and they played a completely different anthem, offensive to Kazakhstan.”

It’s the second time this month the people of Kazakhstan have had to endure a mistake with their national anthem after organisers of a ski festival played Ricky Martin’s 1999 number one ‘Livin’ la vida loca’ instead ‘Meniñ Qazaqstanım’.

For those of you wondering, here’s the real anthem:

YouTube: vonPeterhof

And here’s what was played in Kuwait:

YouTube: 1992kyle07

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