The Olympics only arouse “impatience” among 37% of French people, according to a survey – Libération

A little less than four in ten French people (37%) say they are waiting “with a lot” or “a little impatience” for the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), according to a Viavoice survey unveiled this Monday, March 25.

Confirmation that France is not a great sporting country or that it is more than ever a gold medalist in critical opinion? A little less than four in ten French people (37%) say they are waiting “with a lot” or “a little impatience” for the Olympic Games, which will take place from July 26 to August 11, according to a Viavoice survey unveiled this Monday, March 25 on the occasion of the Journalism Conference in Tours. Conversely, 57% of respondents are waiting with “little” or “no impatience” for the high mass of sport, organized in Paris for the first time in a century. The meeting is the subject of some controversy, accused of fueling the social cleansing of the capital, real estate speculation, a turn of the security screw or of driving the transport networks to embolism.

Interest is still a little less pronounced for the Paralympic Games, which arouse the impatience of only 30% of respondents, interviewed online from February 29 to March 4 for this study carried out using the quota method, among 1,001 people major companies in mainland France, on behalf of France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and Ouest-France. Even among respondents who “regularly learn about sport and its news”, enthusiasm remains rather measured, with 55% impatient for the Olympic Games, and 45% for the Paralympic Games.

Football by far the most followed sport

They are part of a broader investigation into the relationship between public opinion and sports journalism, the central theme of the Conference organized in Tours from Monday to Saturday, an Olympic year. According to this study, less than half of those surveyed (45%) regularly find out about sport and its news and 35% “rarely”, while 20% “never” follow sport. 61% of men questioned say they regularly learn about sport, compared to 30% of women.

Unsurprisingly, the most followed sport is football, cited by 43% of the 353 respondents following a particular sport almost daily, far ahead of rugby (15%) and tennis (7%). Another lesson: 76% of respondents believe that sports journalists should be neutral and not show their preference. But the situation changes when French teams or athletes are in the running, with 45% of respondents expecting journalists and commentators to “be supporters” and “show their preference”.