Prince George, B.C.- A new Ipsos Reid poll indicates people in the lower mainland communities are a little more excited about the Olympics than their  rural counterparts.

 

The survey indicates while a majority of British Columbians (53%) say they are excited about the games, the level of enthusiasm is higher among residents of the lower mainland (58%) than   from those who live in other parts of the province (47%).

 

The polls also indicates 60% of British Columbians expect Canada to get more medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games than at the 2006 Games in Turin. Another third (36%) expect Canada to get about the same number of medals and only 4% expect Canada to get fewer medals.

 

In fact, almost half of British Columbians (46%) are betting on the Canadians to have a second place finish in the medal standings—ahead of their third place standing at the 2006 Games. A further one in three (27%) expect Canada to finish in the same standing as they did in Turin whereas 14% of BC residents are optimistic that Canadians win more medals than any other country.

 

And it seems a similar majority (59%) of those expecting more medals will be tuning in regularly to keep up with Canada’s quest for medals: six in ten British Columbians expect to follow the 2010 Winter Games (23% very closely and 36% somewhat closely). Another three in ten (27%) say they don’t expect to follow the games very closely and only one in ten (13%) expect to pass up on following the Games altogether.

 

”Expectations are pretty solid that our Canadian team will better their standings from 2006 and it’s likely to provide a source of local pressure for the podium as athletes connect with the ‘home town’ crowd,” says Steve Mossop, President of Ipsos Reid Canada West. “It’s also likely that once the flame is lit and the first Canadian medal is won, momentum will build as more people tune in to follow the Games and excitement and anticipation for some of the key events grow”.

The poll also found that a majority of British Columbian’s hold Canadian athletes in high regard: fully eight in ten (84%) believe that Canadian athletes will perform either ‘excellent’ (37%) or ‘good’ (47%) at events. This is compared to 16% who expect a fair (14%) or poor (2%) performance by Canadian athletes.