A third of Kazakhstanis are disappointed with the performance of the national team, while an equal number consider this result natural.
From August 22 to 30, 2024, the DEMOSCOPE Express Public Opinion Monitoring Bureau conducted a survey on the topic of What People Think of the Kazakhstan Results at the Paris Olympics. This project is being implemented by MediaNet International Center for Journalism in cooperation with the PAPERLAB Research Center, supported by Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
The Kazakh national team won seven medals at the Olympic Games in France (1 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze). The DEMOSCOPE Bureau identified factors that, according to respondents, prevented the Kazakh national team from winning more medals. Of the surveyed citizens, 40.6% believe that corruption in sports was the main reason. Other significant obstacles mentioned include: insufficient training of athletes (22.2%), lack of funding (19.1%), lack of qualified coaches and training facilities (18.9%), and poor development of youth sports (18.6%).
The survey results indicate that public assessment of the Kazakh national team’s performance at the Paris Olympics is predominantly negative. A third of respondents are disappointed with the results (35.3%), while 37.1% expected this outcome. Only 21% felt that the national team performed better than expected. Notably, those who followed the Games very closely reacted most critically, with 43.8% noting that the national team did not meet their expectations.
The Olympic Games in Paris captured the attention of a significant portion of Kazakhstanis: 40.6% of citizens followed the performances of the national team to some extent. Of these, 13.2% watched the Games very closely, 12% followed the main events and results, and 15.4% occasionally watched news about the performances. There is a notable gender difference in interest in the Olympics—men (35.5%) were twice as likely as women (15.8%) to be active fans.
Which Olympic sports were most popular among Kazakhstanis? The survey found that boxing was the most popular (60.7%), followed by wrestling (39.6%), judo (38.2%), and gymnastics (12.5%).
The public’s assessment of the state sports policy in preparation for the Paris Olympics is also noteworthy. Almost half of the respondents (46.9%) disapprove of the practice of naturalizing athletes from other countries to compete for Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, 29.8% support this approach, and 18.1% are neutral.
At the same time, the majority of Kazakhstanis (76.3%) support the practice of awarding Olympic champions with expensive gifts and large cash prizes, believing that champions deserve a substantial reward. Only 10% are neutral, and 8.6% disagree, arguing that this practice contradicts the Olympic spirit and leads to the commercialization of sports.
Kazakhstanis rate the state policy on sports development at an average score of 3.1 on a 5-point scale. Only 30% of respondents rated it as excellent or good, while the rest described it as “satisfactory” (35.2%), “bad” (8.9%), or “very bad” (9.6%).
Respondents also identified priority measures to improve results at future Olympic Games. The majority of citizens (37.9%) believe that investing in the development of youth sports and eradicating corruption in sports should be the top priorities. Other important measures include increasing funding (22.8%), developing sports infrastructure and accessibility (18.6%), attracting experienced international coaches (15.3%), providing better training conditions for athletes (11%), and holding officials accountable for Olympic failures (11.1%).
The DEMOSCOPE survey revealed that about half of Kazakhstanis (49%) engage in physical education and sports regularly or periodically, 17.7% engage irregularly, and a third (32.8%) do not engage at all.
Furthermore, a third of Kazakhstanis (33.7%) report having all necessary conditions for sports in their area. Twenty-five percent have such conditions with some restrictions, 15.1% have very limited opportunities, and 18% have practically no opportunities.
The study shows that Kazakhstanis prefer the development of domestic athletes and oppose the naturalization of athletes from other countries. The government should focus on improving sports infrastructure and popularizing mass sports, while eliminating corruption remains a top priority.
Note: Questions about sports, expectations, and performance evaluation were answered only by those who followed the Olympics to some extent. Respondents could choose multiple answers for some questions. Detailed survey results are available on the project’s website.
The press release and infographics in Kazakh and Russian are available at the link. When using the material, please include a hyperlink to the DEMOSCOPE website.
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Methodology: From August 22 to 30, 2024, 1,100 people were interviewed across 17 regions and cities of republican significance (Astana, Almaty, Shymkent). The survey was conducted by telephone among mobile subscribers in Kazakhstan. The sample was drawn from a database of numbers generated randomly. The telephone survey was carried out by KT CloudLab LLP’s contact center. Of the respondents, 47.5% were men and 52.5% were women, all over the age of 18. 57% percent preferred to answer in Kazakh, and 43% in Russian. 71.6% of respondents are Kazakhs, 11.6% are Russians, and 15.1% are representatives of other nationalities. 64.4% live in cities, and 33.7% live in rural areas. The data has been weighted by gender and age parameters. The maximum margin of error with 95% probability does not exceed 3%. The reachability rate was 9.3%. The survey was implemented by MediaNet International Center for Journalism with support from Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The survey data reflect the respondents’ views. For more information, please contact the project coordinator Snezhana Tsoy at snezhana.tsoy@medianet.ngo.