U.S. Funding of Olympians Favored

Most Americans regard the Olympic Games as competition among nations as well as athletes, and they favor federal funding to bolster the U.S. team, a Media General-Associated Press poll has found.

Many nations subsidize their Olympic teams, but the federal government and the U.S. Olympic Committee long have resisted that approach. However, 67% of those surveyed supported the idea.

The national telephone poll of 1,223 adults revealed sharply divided opinion on the participation of professional athletes, who now are allowed in Olympic tennis and soccer and, in the Winter Games, ice hockey.

Forty-two percent said professionals should not be allowed to compete in any Olympic sport, but 35% said professionals should be allowed in all events, and 16% thought they should be in some sports.

Among other findings:

--By 85% to 11%, respondents favored continuing to hold the Games at a different city every four years, rather than installing them at a fixed location.

--Ninety-two percent of respondents said they planned to watch some Olympic events on television. The Summer Games will be held Sept. 17-Oct. 2 in Seoul.

--Sixty-one percent of respondents said they believed that judged events, such as gymnastics, are scored fairly; 26% said they are not, and the rest weren’t sure. Of those who said judging is unfair, 90% said it was influenced by politics.

--Sixty-two percent of respondents said it was of great importance or some importance to them that the U.S. team win more medals at the Summer Games than any other, and 59% said it was of great importance or some importance that the U.S. team do better than the Soviet team.

--A total of 76% of respondents said they believed the Games improve cooperation among nations, the stated goal of the modern Olympics.

The U.S. Olympic Committee raises most of its money by allowing businesses to display the Olympic logo on their products for a fee. Poll respondents indicated some dissatisfaction with that approach, with 50% saying the Olympics had become too commercialized.

However, the U.S. Olympic Committee has said it believes the public does not support government funding. It bases that position on a nonscientific poll done at Disney World last year, an NBC News survey done eight years ago and its mail, spokesman Mike Moran said last week.

The committee’s budget is $149 million for the current four-year cycle, far less than the $320 million suggested by a study commission in 1978. The budget for the 1988-1992 cycle will be about $200 million. Ideally, it would be $300 million or more, Moran said.

The poll asked: “Do you think the United States government should provide money to train U.S. Olympic athletes, or not?” Sixty-seven percent said yes and 27% said no. The rest had no opinion.

The idea of government funding was particularly popular with younger adults. Nearly three-quarters of those 18-29 supported the idea, compared with just 53% in the oldest group, 65 and older.

The Media General-AP poll consisted of telephone interviews June 22-July 2 with a randomly selected sample from across the nation. The phone numbers were selected randomly by computer, and interviews were conducted with the adult who had the most recent birthday.

The results were weighted to adjust for variations in the sample. The poll has a three-point margin of error, meaning that if every adult American were asked the same questions, the results theoretically would be within three points of the poll’s results, 19 times out of 20.

Media General is a communications company based in Richmond, Va.