Survey shows public approval of small decline in gold medal numbers

‍‍China Youth Daily did an online survey about public opinion about China’s performance at Olympic Games and the current sport system. The result shows that most people would not mind if China got fewer gold medals, and that most people are satisfied with the current sport system which contributed a lot to the good performance of national teams at Olympic Games.

The survey was carried out in the middle of March and covered 2,013 respondents which included managing level in enterprises, staffs, civil servants, technicians, researchers, students, soldiers, farmers, etc. 

94.4 percent of the respondents can accept that China gets fewer gold medals and lower ranks at the following two Summer Olympic Games. 

90.7 percent of the respondents think that public sports should not be sacrificed for good performances at the Olympic Games. Currently, a majority of sports resources are directed at development of competitive sports. 

But although people want more investments into public fitness and sports, there are still 74.3 percent of respondents in favor of the current Chinese sports system who also agree that the centralized and no-so-marketized system needs some changes though. 

In terms of Beijing’s bid for the Winter Olympic Games, there are 80.4 percent of respondents in favor of the bid, and 45.4 percent of the respondents hope that Olympic Games would improve their life. 

Last year, the Chinese government announced policies to develop the sports industry. Public fitness was brought to attention, and marketization of the industry became a popular topic within the industry. 

Source: Sina