Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

Poll results

Sponsored by: OTELCO

The Tokyo Olympics have begun, after a year's delay because of the pandemic and with Japan in a state of emergency due to spiking cases of COVID-19. More than 100 Olympics-related cases had been detected by Sunday.

The Games of the 32nd Olympiad will cost the host country more than $20 billion, it's estimated, a figure that's grown because of the postponement and new health precautions. But with few spectators in the stands and relatively few visitors in Tokyo, Japan probably won't earn even a third of that amount from the massive undertaking.

No wonder, perhaps, that polls have shown the vast majority of people living in Japan oppose the Games taking place in their country this summer.

Still, if the Olympics are a symbol of belief in human potential, what better time to hold them?

As International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said at the Games opening last week, "Today is a moment of hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined. But finally we are all here together."

Should the Tokyo Olympics have been canceled because of the pandemic, rather than postponed from last year?
Yes (49%, 118 VOTES)
No (51%, 125 VOTES)
Poll Description

Sponsored by: OTELCO

The Tokyo Olympics have begun, after a year's delay because of the pandemic and with Japan in a state of emergency due to spiking cases of COVID-19. More than 100 Olympics-related cases had been detected by Sunday.

The Games of the 32nd Olympiad will cost the host country more than $20 billion, it's estimated, a figure that's grown because of the postponement and new health precautions. But with few spectators in the stands and relatively few visitors in Tokyo, Japan probably won't earn even a third of that amount from the massive undertaking.

No wonder, perhaps, that polls have shown the vast majority of people living in Japan oppose the Games taking place in their country this summer.

Still, if the Olympics are a symbol of belief in human potential, what better time to hold them?

As International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said at the Games opening last week, "Today is a moment of hope. Yes, it is very different from what all of us had imagined. But finally we are all here together."

  • 243 Votes
  • 5 Comments
View recent polls

Sign up for Enews

5 Comments

  • July 28, 2021

    If the Olympics bring back some normalcy to our lives and get people talking about something other than Covid, I am all for them! Go for the Gold USA!

  • July 27, 2021

    I don't think they should be cancelled, but if I lived in Japan and was footing the bill I might feel differently. Personally, it doesn't make any difference to me whether they have the games or not. I won't be watching.

  • July 26, 2021

    Olympics are in Japan, about as far from Maine as one can get. We all have our opinions, but I really don’t see this as a Maine or Mainebiz issue.

  • Robert Feller
    July 26, 2021

    In reality, who cares about the Olympics anyway? The ratings have been so low that at this point it seems like it's not worth televising to people who don't care anyway.

  • Bud Brown
    July 26, 2021

    I'm not watching them (or the NBA and NFL) because the athletes have become so political. End of story.