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OTTAWA — Canadian Press Published on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 5:08PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 8:35PM EDT
Canadians were overwhelmingly satisfied with their athletes' performance at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, a new poll suggests.
A Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey found respondents who were happy with the team's showing outnumbered the disgruntled by an eight-to-one margin.
Almost 80 per cent of respondents said they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the Canadian showing, with only nine per cent reporting dissatisfaction.
Canada won 18 Olympic medals in China — three gold, nine silver, six bronze — and finished tied with Spain for 14th in total medals among 204 participating countries.
Most respondents — 68 per cent — were also very or somewhat impressed with China's organizational effort.
The poll suggests 77 per cent of Canadians watched some portion of the Games on TV, with the average watcher taking in 13.76 hours of coverage.
Most were enthusiastic about the CBC's coverage, with only 10 per cent unhappy with the broadcaster.
Bruce Anderson, Harris-Decima president, said it wasn't clear before the Games opened how Canadians would respond to the events.
"As it turned out, the general sentiment is that the Games were a success, Canada's athletes performed admirably and the coverage provided by the CBC was well regarded, too."
The survey of just over 1,000 Canadians was conducted last Thursday through Sunday and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
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