Template talk:Flag medalist

Both?

I can't figure out any reason why we would want the full country name AND the country code listed. We usually use the country code because it takes up much less space than spelling out the entire country; USA vs United States. But to have both. Why? Fyunck(click) (talk) 19:31, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Because the country code is often the foremost expressed unit for the nation in results and presentation at games and championships. In that way, it becomes far most than just an abbreviated shorthand, but actually is one of the primary bits of information given to readers and viewers (visual example and New York Times example). Including the code allows such readers to interpret the voluminus non-wiki listings of obscurities such as "BOT" and "URS" as "Botswana" and "Soviet Union". Exclusion of the codes would mean those presented with the code within the context of these events, and who are less familiar with countries, would be left with the task of trying to guess which of wiki's spelled out country names that code refers to, or perhaps by reference of remembering the flag. That is quite a difficult and prone-to-error task. The inclusion of the three letter country code not only align's Wikipedia's coverage with that of the sporting culture, but also aids reader comprehension of the subject matter. SFB 00:07, 21 July 2015 (UTC)