Sociologists: the doping scandal has reduced Russians’ interest in the Olympics
Interest in the Summer Olympics in Rio is lower than interest in the Winter Olympics. 56% of Russians follow all or part of the competitions (including the progress of all competitions – 19%). 82% of Russians followed the Games in Sochi, and 75% in Vancouver.
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This is evidenced by data from a poll conducted by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).
At the same time, the performances of Russian athletes invariably evoke predominantly positive emotions among spectators: pride (53%), hope (37%), respect (33%). Frustration (6%) and shame (3%) are extremely rare.
The question of whether the Russian authorities did everything in their power to get our athletes to the Olympics during the doping scandal divided society: 46% answered in the affirmative, 39% in the negative.
The new doping scandal with the Russian Paralympic team (ban on participation in the Paralympics due to massive doping) is known quite widely: 64% of all respondents have heard about it. At the same time, they believe even less in the veracity of claims against Paralympic athletes than against track and field athletes. Two-thirds (63%) consider the accusations of international organizations to be solely a “political order”; another 20% say that mass doping is a common phenomenon in many countries, and accordingly, the demand to punish only Russian Paralympic athletes is unfounded.
“Those who follow the progress of the Games are fully aware of the situation in which the Russian Olympic team finds itself: they empathize more and show respect to the athletes who, despite the pressure of ill-wishers, regularly achieve high results. The continuation of the story of attempts to exclude Russian athletes, now Paralympic athletes, from competitions has increased the confidence of Russians that these actions are a political order of our competitors,” said Stepan Lvov, head of the Department of Monitoring and Electoral Research at VTsIOM.
An initiative all-Russian survey by VTsIOM was conducted on August 13-14, 2016 in 130 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics and 9 federal districts of Russia. Sample size: 1600 people.
Sociologists : The doping scandal has diminished Russians' interest in the Olympics.