75% urban Indians felt the display of nationalism as excessive during the Olympics: Report

The Ipsos Global Advisor Survey in 33 Countries based on the Paris Olympic Games 2024, being held from July 26th to August 11th, 2024, displays polarized views among Indians for those interested (53%) in watching the games versus those uninterested in watching the game (47%). Interest in the Paris Games was significantly high among most Asian countries, particularly in China (86%), Thailand (77%), Indonesia (75%) and the Philippines (71%). 

Here are some key highlights from the Ipsos survey:

Favourite games

• Among all games, global citizens (28%) and urban Indians (28%) are most interested in watching football/ soccer. Other games Indians have evinced interest in, including, badminton (18%), volleyball (14%), tennis (14%), cycling (13%), boxing (11%), and basketball (11%), among others. 
• While global citizens were keen to watch athletics (26%), gymnastics (24%), aquatics (18%), volleyball (17%) etc. A whole array of sporting events causing a frenzy among sports enthusiasts. 

Positive sentiment for the global sporting event, all-pervasive

Interestingly, Indians were seen to have a positive sentiment for the Olympics rating it high across a bunch of parameters: for instance, 3 in 4 Indians (75%), held the view that the Paris Olympics is a good opportunity for the world to come together; 76% Indians said the Olympics will bring the country together; 75% Indians said seeing their Olympics team made them proud of their country; though 75% urban Indians also felt that there was too much display of nationalism during the Olympics; 76% Indians were of the view that govt funding should support our athletes are the Olympics; further, there was strong support among Indians for global events like the Olympics to be held despite the climate impact of travel and construction, with 76% Indians endorsing this view. 74% of Indians also believed that the Paris Olympics should go ahead regardless of the world’s economy and conflicts, for example, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East; and 76% of the urban Indians polled built a strong case for the Olympics, believing the Olympics inspire tomorrow’s generation to participate in sports.  

Elucidating on the findings of the survey, Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India said, “While the Olympic Games in Paris is a global sporting event, India has not bagged many medals in the past, just a trickle, except in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which was held 3 years ago in 2021 (1-year delay due to Covid19),  when India bagged 7 medals – 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals – the highest ever medal tally. The stickiness is not as profound as it is for cricket. But the good news is that India is sending a large contingent of 171 athletes to Paris, with 72 athletes making their Olympics debut and there is a huge hope around them to potentially get a haul of medallions.” 

“The global sporting event of the Olympics unifies the world, reaffirming the spirit of nationalism, especially just watching one’s contingent gives goose bumps. And let’s not forget, one gets to watch the best-of-breed players vying for the much-coveted medals. Now that we are closer to the event, with the event kicking off this week, more number of sports enthusiasts are likely to watch the event, with all the amplified hype built up at the local level,” added Adarkar.