Placing a friendly bet can be fun amongst pals, but when country officials place bets it can mean serious business. Just when you think you have it in the bag, the other team can come back and beat you, leaving you to pay the consequences of the bet. Just ask Kate Ellis of Australia.

Last month, Kate Ellis, the sports minister for Australia, placed a bet against Great Britain. Ellis said that her team would finish with more medals than the Great Britain team. To her dismay, Great Britain won 47 medals, just one more than the Australians. This would be the first time the country would finish ahead of Australia in twenty years.

Because she lost the bet, Kate Ellis was forced to wear the British Uniform during the second round pool match of the wheelchair basketball. She donned the Red, white and blue colors with a smile. Sitting right beside her, also dressed in Britain’s best was the United Kingdom sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe.

Though Sutcliffe is happy he won the bet, Ellis would get the last laugh as the Australian team won 67-48 over the British in the wheelchair basketball match. "I'd just come from the swimming pool where I played a role in the medal ceremony for Matt Cowdrey, who'd just smashed the world record and won gold," she said. "Then I saw the Rollers just demolishing the team from Great Britain, so at that stage I was so ecstatic at Australia's efforts I don't think it would have mattered what I wore."

Ellis was attending the Beijing Olympics to support the Australian team and also to meet with the Paralympics delegations. While there, Ellis stated that she would be cautious before placing a bet again. Ellis stated: “I’m going to quit while I’m behind.”



- 2008-09-09