Sports Features

A Kazakh athlete was yesterday humiliated after she stepped up for her country's national anthem at a Kuwaiti sporting event and instead heard a Borat tune.

The mishap, which was be viewed above, occurred after gold medallist Maria Dmitrienko took to the pedestal and instead of listening to her proud nation's anthem, heard a mock song which praise Kazakhstan's postassium exports, as devised by comic Sacha Baron Cohen for his spoof film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

"Then Maria Dmitrienko's turn came," explained coach Anvar Yanusmetov, speaking to Kazakh news agency Tengrinews afterwards. "She got up on to the pedestal and they played a completely different anthem, offensive to Kazakhstan."

Yanusmetov had also mentioned that the Kuwaiti organisers had also got the Serbian national anthem wrong just moments before Maria stepped up. After the blunder, the correct national anthems were performed at a later ceremony, while the Kazakh team received an apology for their troubles.

It's unclear whether this is the ultimate Kuwati prank or a genuine mistake, however the Borat movie is actually banned in both countries, so it is really is difficult to ascertain.