Sports: Tokyo 2016 bid to focus on city revamp

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Guatemala City, July 7 : Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games will be a blend of the city's modern metropolitan character and its Olympic legacy of more than 40 years, its bid chief executive said.

''It is a blend of heritage and Olympic experience and the new area development,'' Ichiro Kono told Reuters on the sidelines of an International Olympic Committee meeting, yesterday.

Kono said Tokyo's bid would focus on the rejuvenation of the Harumi waterfront in the Japanese capital but declined to provide further details.

''It is no secret that we will plan venues around the waterfront, to offer a sustainable plan to regenerate that area .... for a new generation,'' Kono said.

Tokyo became the first Asian city to host a summer Olympics in 1964. Since then only South Korea's Seoul (1988) has hosted the Games in Asia, while Beijing in China will stage the event next year.

''The Olympic facilities are in everyday use for almost 50 years. Tokyo will show it has a sustainable plan.'' Tokyo is running against Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Prague, Chicago and Qatari capital Doha, with the deadline for applications on Sept. 13.

Tokyo won a race against Fukuoka last year to become Japan's choice for the bid.

Kono said the fact that Beijing was hosting the Games next year would not hinder the chances of the event returning to Asia eight years later.

''Asia is a very large continent. I take the Beijing Games in a very positive way,'' he said, adding that the bid's logo would be unveiled on July 10.

The IOC will decide on the host city in 2009.

Reuters>