Exclusive poll: Few Canadians confident of IOC anti-cheating efforts

In this Feb. 24, 2014 file photo Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, toasts a glass of champagne with the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach during the official reception of IOC for Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organizing committee in Sochi, Russia. (RIA Novosti Kremlin, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service, file/AP Photo)

An exclusive new poll conducted for CTV News has found that few Canadians think Olympic officials are doing enough to keep Rio 2016 clean.

The Nanos Research poll found that only six per cent of Canadians are confident and 30 per cent are somewhat confident that “Olympic officials are doing enough to keep the games clean from cheaters.”

That’s in contrast to the 37 per cent who said they are not confident and 22 per cent who are somewhat not confident in Olympic officials’ anti-cheating efforts.

Five per cent said they were unsure.

The poll was conducted days before the IOC barred more than 100 Russian athletes from the Rio de Janeiro games, including 67 from the track and field.

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who lost his 1988 Olympic gold medal after doping in a race where drug use was rampant, told CTV News Channel he believes cheating has worsened.

“Not much has changed over the years,” Johnson said. “It’s gotten worse now with the doping and stuff,” he added. “Now you’ve got guys you’ve never heard of rubning fast.”

Methodology

The national dual-frame (land and cell) hybrid telephone and online survey of 1,000 people was conducted between July 28 and Aug. 1. The margin of error for a survey of 1,000 respondents is ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.