Interest in the nation's athletes competing in international sporting events reached a record 87.2 percent this year due partly to their performance at the Sydney Olympic Games, according to a survey by the Prime Minister's Office released Saturday.

The survey on physical fitness and sports, carried out in October, also shows that about 80 percent support official assistance for the country's athletes, such as establishing a national sports center to enhance their performance.

In the survey, 43.6 percent of respondents said they had a strong interest in the athletes' sports, up 15.8 percentage points from a previous survey in 1997.

Regarding the respondents' physical condition, the survey also shows that 64.5 percent reported feeling physically fatigued, while 54.5 percent felt mentally tired.

Those who engaged in sports in the past year totaled 68 percent, down 3.7 percentage points from the previous poll, according to the survey.

As a reason for not playing sports, about 40 percent cited a busy work schedule, which also included household duties, it says.

Meanwhile, 56.4 percent of respondents in their 20s and 60 percent of those in their 30s and 40s complained of mental fatigue and stress, the poll shows, adding that such burnout is increasingly common among people with administrative, technical and clerical jobs.

The poll covered 3,000 men and women across the country aged 20 or older, 69.8 percent of whom responded.