- Nearly 76% see the world returning to normalcy with the Tokyo Olympics; 53% of the respondents are very excited.
- 22.74% and 21.98% are keen to watch Archery and Wrestling respectively, followed by Badminton (13.55%) and Boxing (8%). 33.71% said they’ll watch some other sport.
- Majority (74%) believes the Games help bring the country together and around 66% see it as an opportunity for global bonding.
- 72% feel the Games have a positive impact on society, inspiring younger generations to participate in sports.
- Around 70% are of the view that there aren’t enough policies in India to promote sports and fitness.
After a year-long delay, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is all set to happen on July 23, with boxer Mary Kom and hockey skipper Manpreet Singh leading the Indian contingent. Ahead of the opening ceremony, location-based social network Public conducted the Public ki Awaaz Poll to gauge the opinions of Indians on the international multi-sport event. The survey garnered a total of 2,50,438 responses from Bharat users.
BACK TO NORMAL
In these unprecedented times of Covid-19, undoubtedly the circumstances are quite unusual. Host nation Japan has pledged to hold a “safe and secure” Olympics, but still there are some concerns floating around globally. Yet, nearly 76% of respondents view the Olympic Games as an opportunity for the world to return back to normalcy while 24% disagree. In fact, Indians seem fairly enthused about Tokyo 2020 as 53% of respondents said they are very excited for the games whereas around 25% don’t seem to be interested at all.
INDIA’S PERFORMANCE
The 2016 Olympic Games at Rio was a pivotal one for India as for the first time in Olympic history, our medal haul was enriched by only its female athletes with PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik claiming historic podiums on their Games debut.When asked to predict India’s performance this year at Tokyo, a majority of 68% respondents seemed confident and anticipated that India will improve and win more medals at the Olympics compared to Rio 2016, against only 12.7% who think otherwise.
With India’s 228-member strong contingent participating across 18 sporting events this year as opposed to 117 athletes in 2016, which sport category is everyone looking forward to the most? As per the findings, the top two spots are taken by Archery and Wrestling, with 22.74% and 21.98% keen to watch them on air, followed by Badminton (13.55%) and Boxing (8%). One-third (33.71%) said they’ll be watching some other sports.
NATIONAL & GLOBAL UNITY
Bringing the country together, the Olympics also kindle a feeling of patriotism and unity among citizens— almost three-fourths (74%) of the respondents believe. This view is not limited to the national level. Being an international multi-sport event, around 66% of respondents agreed that the Games are a symbol of global bonding as it provides an opportunity for participating nations to strengthen their relationship with each other. However, about 15% of respondents believe they don’t while 18.4% were not sure.
IMPACT OF OLYMPICS
Olympics are a source of inspiration and motivation for the younger generation to participate in sports seems to be the dominant view with a whopping 72% respondents agreeing. But when asked about the state of national policies in India, around 70% said there aren’t enough to promote sports and fitness. On the other hand, around 14% strongly disagree and believe that there are enough efforts being carried out for the same.
