Athens 2004 was full of unforgettable sports action sequences. But what else made impressions on the minds of international Olympic audiences? Determined to find out, Synovate asked more than 5,000 people around the world a series of questions aimed at uncovering some Olympian perceptions.

Respondents came from Brazil, China, Germany, Greece, South Korea, South Africa, Russia and the United States.

In addition to discovering how involved interviewees were with the Olympic Games and the depth of their passion, participants were also asked about their favourite events.

Who cares?

Overall, 18% of respondents claimed they didn't follow the Games at all. But this still leaves a very Olympic-friendly 82% watching or following the Greatest Sports Show on Earth in the markets covered. Unsurprisingly, everyone in Greece said they followed the Games – most Greeks however preferred to watch on television, with only 2% actually attending the events. Despite topping the medals table, the US recorded the highest number (27%) saying they didn't follow the Games. The Germans came in second in the apathy event, with 22% not interested.

By far the majority of respondents followed the Athens Games on television. The only other significant channel was in uber-wired South Korea, where 15% of respondents experienced the Games via the Internet, and11% through newspapers, and in China, with 8% opting for Internet coverage, and 12%, newspaper coverage. It's quite likely that time zones were behind Asian audiences' preference for non-TV coverage – most Athens events occurred in the early hours of the morning.


Who really really cares?

The survey also gauged the depth of involvement of Olympic audiences, by asking respondents who followed the Games to agree or disagree with a series of questions. Overall, 25% of respondents agreed that "Nothing gets between me and the television when the Olympic Games are on". This number rises to 50% in Korea, 49% in Russia and 45% in China. Meanwhile in the United States, only 10% admitted obsession with the show.

Twenty three per cent of survey respondents agreed that they were put off by all the recent drug scandals. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Greeks had the highest level of dismay with drug-enhanced athletes (48%), having just watched two national heroes fall from grace. And only 40% of participants agreed they'd dreamed of being an Olympic athlete themselves, with the rest opting for couch potatoship.

Nearly half of analysed respondents felt that the original Olympic spirit has been lost to corporate advertising and marketing interests – this included 85% of Greeks (and they ought to know). Koreans and Chinese were most idealistic, with only 33% and 35% respectively feeling the Olympic spirit had been lost. That should be good news for Beijing 2008!


What they cared about

Asked unprompted which was their favourite Olympic event, an overall 23% of respondents chose aquatic events (Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and Water Polo). This was topped by South Africa, with 34% selecting aquatic events. The world's favourite sport, soccer, only came in fourth in Olympic popularity, with a 10% following. This despite a massive 54% of South Koreans nominating soccer (or Olympic Football) as their preferred sport. Interestingly, only 19% of Brazilians felt the same way, instead favouring Volleyball (34%) – another sport in which they excel.

Also intriguing was the favourite sport of US Olympic fans – Gymnastics (38%). This could well be because Gymnastics transcends regular sporting culture and appeals to viewers of both genders. Only 12% of Americans selected Track and Field, while incredibly only 4% went for Basketball.

At the other end of the popularity scale came Modern Pentathlon, Hockey, Triathlon and Taekwondo.