At the request of Dr. Klaus Schormann, President of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon (UIPM), Dr. Norbert Mueller, head professor at University of Kaiserslautern (GER), and his team of students conducted an in-depth survey measuring future threats to the Olympic Games. The study commenced at the Women’s Modern Pentathlon competition held in Deodoro Olympic Park on 19 August 2016 as part of the Rio Olympics. Results from the study indicate a significant level of concern about the future of the Olympic Games.
The surveys were conducted by two universities during the Women’s Modern Pentathlon competition. Students from the Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul (BRA), in collaboration with students from the University of Kaiserslautern, polled and made a distinction of responses between international and Brazilian attendees. All 900 of those surveyed were asked, “ln your opinion, what dangers threaten the Olympic Games within the next 20 years?”
The highest percentage of respondents (72 percent) selected “doping” as their top concern with corruption (66 percent) and terrorism (58 percent) following closely behind. Only 23 percent of those surveyed agreed that over-exaggerated nationalism threatened the future of Olympic Games.
Seventy-six percent of Brazilian attendees recognized corruption as being the main danger threatening the Olympic Games in the next 20 years. Those surveyed also identified environmental pollution (39 percent), local violence/criminality (37 percent), over-exaggerated nationalism (31 percent) and increasing commercialization as concerns.
Corruption was also a top concern for international attendees (56 percent) but less so than that of their Brazilian counterparts. Only nine percent distinguished local violence/criminality as a concern. Increasing commercialization (27 percent), environmental pollution (18 percent) and over-exaggerated nationalism (15 percent) were also identified as the main dangers threatening the Olympic Games in the next 20 years.
Also, attendees answered the question, “Which one of the above dangers would keep you away from attending the next Olympics?” The two most common answers were terrorism at 48 percent and doping at 15 percent.
Full results of the survey will be available 1 December 2016 here. Special thanks to Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich and Dr. Mueller for providing this insightful insider information and the students of BRA and GER for their research.
By Jason Williams
Jason Williams is a doctoral teaching assistant at the United States Sports Academy.