Indiantelevision.com Team

(23 July 2008 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Indians are the most optimistic about their national team garnering a higher medal scorecard than at the previous Olympic Games, according to a Visa survey on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

According to the survey, seven in 10 Indians are expecting the Indian Olympic Team to go home this year with a higher medal count than they did at previous Olympic Games.

Of the 505 people from India who were asked about their local team’s chances of winning more medals at this year’s Olympic Games, 65 percent felt that India would win more gold medals as compared with the previous Games.

Visa South Asia country manger Santanu Mukherjee said, “Indians are very passionate about sport, especially when it comes to watching their home team play. This year, the Olympic Team boasts a number of exceptional athletes so Indians have reason to be optimistic. India’s shooting, tennis and archery teams are spearheading the charge for medals.”

Of the 4,556 people from the region who were asked about their local team’s chances of winning more medals at this year’s Olympic Games compared with previous years, close to half (48 per cent) of those aged under 40 said they were optimistic about the prospects of their Olympians winning more medals versus 32 per cent of those aged 40 and above who felt their team would win more medals.

Similarly, 46 per cent of those under 40 were more optimistic about their team’s chances of winning more gold medals than audiences aged 40 and above (31 per cent).

Mukherjee adds, “The findings show that young audiences are in high spirits about how well their team will perform in the global arena.”

Visa has been the exclusive payment card and the official payment service of the Olympic Games since 1986 and will continue its category sponsorship through 2012, including the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Visa will be the only card accepted at all Olympic Games venues for official Olympic related transactions.

Between 17 March and 9 April 2008, Nielsen conducted 4,556 online and door-to-door interviews on behalf of Visa with people aged 18 years and above from nine markets (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and India) in an effort to measure interest levels in global sporting events, China as a travel destination and, in particular, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

For each market, quotas were set by demographic variables to ensure the sample was representative of the general population.