Americans want the Olympic Games without political interference

Most Americans want Olympians keep in reserve their political opinions during the event which starts this week in Rio de Janeiro, according to a Reuters / Ipsos, although the political favor before the Games is the most intense in recent decades.

Brazil, the host nation is mired in a political crisis stronger. Amid a summer plagued by deadly shootings at home, American activists recently extended their campaign against racial discrimination to Rio de Janeiro, to march with Brazilian citizens to protest against violent discrimination against local police.

The Reuters / Ipsos interviewed 3,015 people online between 22 and July 26 revealed that most Americans-and whether to identify themselves as white or racial minorities feel that it is better to keep politics out of games. The margin of error is 2 percent.

Overall, 65 percent said they want the policy not to intervene in the Olympics, while nearly a quarter said that athletes should express their political views if they wish.

Forty-eight years after American runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos made the greeting of Black Power in the Olympic Games in Mexico City, Americans racial minorities were only slightly more likely to accept political gestures in the event , with 52 percent not in favor of and one third of itself.

Rio Games have also been affected by a doping scandal in Russia with reminiscences of the Cold War. Moscow officials accused the West of political conspiracy to ban dozens of Russian athletes competing, including 67 exponents of athletics.

The survey indicated that 29 percent of Americans believe that at least half of all Olympic athletes take drugs to improve their performance, although most think that the delusions are minority.

In another survey of 2,044 people with a margin of error of 3 percent, about 75 percent said he believes that Russian athletes are most likely to use drugs. And while also suspected of Chinese athletes, nearly a third of Americans said they think their country athletes are more prone to deception via use of medication.