Majority say U.S. performance at the Olympics makes them feel proud to be American
Washington DC, February 10, 2026 – A new Ipsos poll finds that a majority of Americans say the Olympic team’s performance makes them proud to be an American, though slightly fewer hold this sentiment now compared to 2024. A notable minority also agree that they are less likely to be interested in an event that doesn’t have an American athlete or team in it or that they will be disappointed if the U.S. doesn’t win the most gold medals.
The poll also finds that most Americans plan to watch this year’s Winter Olympics. Among those who plan to watch, figure skating tops the list of favorite events, followed by the opening ceremony.
Detailed Findings
1. Most say the American team’s performance in the Olympics makes them proud to be an American, though slightly fewer agree compared to 2024.
- Fifty-nine percent of Americans agree that the American team’s performance and participation in the Olympics makes them proud to be an American, down slightly from February 2024 (64%).
- Americans ages 50-64 (68%) and 65+ (78%) are significantly more likely than their younger counterparts to hold this sentiment.
- Along these lines, three in ten agree that they are less likely to be interested in an event that doesn’t have an American athlete or team in it (31%). A similar percentage say they will be disappointed if the U.S. doesn’t win the most gold medals (29%).
2. Among the majority of Americans who plan to watch the Winter Olympics, figure skating is the most popular event.
- Fifty-five percent of Americans have or plan to watch this year’s Winter Olympics, either on live TV (30%), via clips or highlights (25%) or via streaming (16%).
- Among those who plan to watch the Winter Olympics, figure skating (44%) is the most popular event to watch, followed by the opening ceremony (25%). One in five (19%) have no preference or watch whatever event is on.
- Americans under age 50 are significantly less likely than those ages 50+ to say they will watch the Olympics. Among those who plan to watch, ice hockey and snowboarding are more popular among younger viewers, while ski jumping and bobsleigh are more popular among older viewers.
- One in five Olympic watchers report that their interest in driven by national pride and supporting American athletes (22%), while 33% say being a fan of the events/sports and 44% say both equally.
3. A majority of Americans don’t think about political events when watching the Olympics.
- Three in five (61%) don’t think much about political events in the U.S. and around the world when watching the Olympics. In contrast, 35% say it is hard to separate the Olympics from political events happening.
- Democrats are more likely to agree that it is hard to separate the Olympics from political events (51%), while Republicans are more likely to say they don’t think much of political events when watching the Olympics (76%).
About the Study
This poll was conducted February 6-8, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,025 general population adults age 18 or older.
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.
The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. Party ID benchmarks are from the 2025 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- Party ID (Republican, Leans Republican, Independent/Other, Democrat, Leans Democrat)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.06 for all respondents. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on other sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
This topline is trended with data from previous Ipsos polls:
- The 2024 poll was fielded February 16-18, 2024 using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,039 general population adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points for at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.09 for all respondents. More information about this poll can be found here.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mallory Newall
Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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